Revenants
by DeviousCuttlefish
Summary: The Reapers are terrifying, single minded, and utterly ruthless killing machines. What happens when they meet the man that is described the same way when he misses his morning cup of coffee?
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** _Not likely to do many of these but seeing as I don't have a back cover for your to read first this'll have to do. First and foremost this is just for funsies. The source material can get pretty intense and so will this, but for the most part I wanted to create something a little more on the fun side. If you're in the mood for dark and gritty, or pants wettingly epic then this probably won't be for you. However, if you enjoy stuff like One Punch Man, Indiana Jones, or Star Wars then we can be buddies and you can read this story. For the most part we're going to run along with canon but put some unique flavor on things to make it different. I'm looking to connect with the community since this is my first try at something like this so two things. First: Holler at me with what you like and don't. Second: I dabble in photoshop for fun so if you like the cover and want one put together for your own story drop me a line and buy me a drink. We'll see where things go. Alright so enough BS. On with the show._

*AKUZE*

Terrified screams split the air punctuated quickly by the staccato rhythm of far way small arms fire. Primordial screeches pounded across the barren landscape that periodically drowned out everything else. Giant serpentine monstrosities erupted from the ground to roar their rage at the comparatively tiny men and women desperately trying to fight their way free. Acid rained down like a hellish monsoon from the berserk creature's jaws dissolving flesh and armor with equal ease. To those involved seconds seemed to stretch into days as their numbers rapidly dwindled. In reality the nightmare only lasted for a handful of minutes. By the time silence once again dominated the plains of Akuze only carnage strewn across the desolate wasteland remained.

Dismembered Human limbs lay haphazardly amidst acid splashed craters, and half-melted weapons. Some distance away, cresting a hill without looking back trudged a lone figure. This singular survivor of an ambush that had obliterated an entire Alliance platoon fervently wished he would wake up. Yet every labored step only served to affirm that he was, and would remain, stubbornly rooted in reality.

*EDEN PRIME*

Commander Kraven Matthew Shepard stared incredulously at the haunting image frozen in time before him. Several seconds ticked by as he, his CO Captain David Anderson, and their ship's Turian guest attempted to comprehend what they were seeing. Scarlet arcs of snaking electricity coiled throughout a billowing cloud of dust that partially obscured the monster within. Armor clad appendages the color of nightshade showed through the encompassing shroud looking for all the world like some colossal grasping hand.

Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau's voice broke over the intercom to interrupt the icy silence. "Everything just cuts out after. No comm traffic or anything."

Captain Anderson cast a sidelong glance over at Shepard without fully taking his attention away from the apparition on screen. "Take us in Joker, fast and quiet. This mission just got a lot more complicated."

Without any further instructions Kraven nodded to the Turian Spectre, Nihlus, crisply saluted his CO, and excused himself to head for the armory. His mind raced with the implications of what he had witnessed from an unlucky soldier's mission cam. The elevator to the lower decks which he swore moved at half the speed of smell allowed him ample time to ponder.

He of course was intensely curious as to what the shrouded construct was and where it came from, but these questions were quickly superseded by theories of how to bring it down if he had to. Past life experience had thoroughly ground into him that shooting first and asking questions later was the best path to self preservation in his line of work. Granted it didn't always win him many friends but he was confident in his instincts of when and where to apply that principle.

He allowed a small grin to brighten his features as he thought of his favorite space bandit character from an extremely outdated vid. His half smile quickly evaporated as Nihlus arrived promptly along with Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko and Corporal Jenkins. The first had been sent by the galactic Council to evaluate Shepard as a potential candidate to join their own private muscle. The second was an introverted, softly spoken biotic who seemed to be the walking epitome of a strong silent type. Finally came the shiny new Corporal who'd never fired a weapon at a living target before and practically foamed at the mouth for some kind of combat. He was a good kid with an engaging sense of humor and genuinely positive outlook on just about everything. His enthusiasm could be a bit grating at times, but no one on the Normandy's seasoned crew begrudged him his rose tinted goggles.

"Looks like you're getting your wish." Shepard gravely informed the Corporal.

An odd mix of emotions played across the young man's face. "I know I said I was ready for the real fight to start. It's just..."

"You didn't expect it to be right in your own backyard." Alenko finished for him.

The Corporal's shoulders slumped slightly in unconscious agreement although seeing Nihlus prepping gear further down the bench helped to buoy his spirits. "Nihlus, you're coming with us?" He had to shout to be heard over the roar of rushing air that began to blast past the ship's widening cargo door.

Nihlus nonchalantly shook his head and eyed his shotgun one last time. "I move faster on my own. We'll rendezvous at the beacon's dig site." Without another word he charged down the loading ramp and off into the ash choked haze.

The trio of Humans, joined shortly by Anderson, watched him go before the Captain turned to address his ground team. "We're setting you down as close to the dig site as possible without drawing attention. Secure the area before meeting up with Nihlus."

"What about survivors Captain?" Alenko asked.

"Rescuing survivors is a secondary objective. Securing the beacon is your top priority." Anderson responded.

Shepard's eyes briefly swam out of focus for a moment, but he almost instantly snapped out of it. "Understood sir."

Anderson seemed not to notice the subtle shift in the Commander's visage as he mirrored his subordinate's salute. "The mission's yours now Commander. Good luck." He himself had to suppress a pang of regret as he watched the younger generation of soldiers storm off into the unknown without him.

*EDEN PRIME*

"What do you mean you were already behind the crates?" Shepard's already short temper was beginning to fray as realization dawned.

The simpering mouse of a man in front of him visually started to squirm. "Some... Sometimes I need a nap to get through my shift. I sneak off to grab forty winks behind the crates where the manager can't find me."

The woman at Shepard's side seethed with barely contained rage. "You're saying you survived because you're lazy?" She and her unit, of which she was now the only living member, had been assigned to guard the colony that was being systematically destroyed by AI constructs. It just so happened the tin men were there for the same thing as everyone else. The Beacon.

The man continued to fidget but said nothing until Kaiden broke in. "Wait... You must be Cole's contact here at the docks. Powell." The Lieutenant's usually soothing tone was understandably strained.

Less than an hour earlier synthetic constructs had ambushed Shepard's team. His instincts had niggled at the back of his mind, but the Corporal's reckless confidence at being on a real mission had tempered his caution. Without warning a pair of weapons drones zipped into view and opened up on the hapless soldier. Without so much as a shot back in his assailant's direction, Jenkins had crumpled into a lifeless heap as blood poured from dozens of smoking wounds.

After that a steady stream of the floating gun buckets swarmed around Shepard, and Alenko in an effort to inflict the same indignity that had befallen Jenkins. Fortunately both men's biotic barriers proved more than sufficient to weather the storm as they waded forward. As they fought their way toward the objective they had happened across two things. First had been Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212, which had been extremely fortunate. Second had been the grisly scene of two synthetic bastards, which Ashley had explained were Geth, turning a defenseless colonist into a meat lollipop on some sort of towering mechanical spine. This had been extremely UNfortunate and something all three Humans wished could be unseen.

Shepard's heart ached, but he was determined not to let the pain accompanying the deaths of Corporal Jenkin's, Ashley's 212, or the synthetically zombified colonists show to anyone. Especially not the scummy little troll still cowering behind the crates in front of him. Instead he allowed his rising ire to keep his sorrow at bay for the time being. Despite this roiling internal conflict his voice remained a steely edged neutral. "What is it you were smuggling?"

Powell nervously glanced between the trio of heavily armed soldiers obviously trying to weigh the potential ramifications of what he was about to say. "A shipment of grenades. No one notices if a few small pieces go missing from the military orders."

Chief William's self control started to dissolve while throbbing veins protruded from her neck and forehead. "We're out here trying to protect your sorry ass and all you can think of is how you can rip us off? You son of a bitch!"

Powell desperately tried to plead his case. "I never thought you'd actually need those grenades. We're a bunch of farmers. Who would..." He halted mid sentence as the Commander's sidearm swung into line between his eyes.

With a lethal click, boom the weapon discharged followed shortly by the hollow thump of Powell's body hitting the deck. Images of Corporal Jenkin's lifeless eyes staring into space swam unbidden across Shepard's vision to intermingle with the wisps of smoke ghosting around his pistol's barrel.

The military oriented portion of his brain screamed in protest at the murder of an unarmed civilian. However the rest of his consciousness that remained stubbornly fixated on Jenkins and Ashley's 212 easily shouted down any feelings of guilt. "Either of you have a problem with that?" He asked slowly holstering his weapon.

"No sir." Kaiden asserted.

"Only wish you'd done it sooner." Ashley growled.

He wasn't really sure what he would have done had either one disapproved, but he was glad to hear they were all on the same page. His instincts told him that the man's greed had undoubtedly diminished everyone else's chances of survival in the colony. Not to mention the little creep had hid like a coward throughout the entirety of the Geth attack, right up until witnessing the Spectre Nihlus being gunned down by another Spectre. Shepard's instincts also told him he was going to regret his actions, but it definitely wouldn't be the first time. He promised himself he'd reflect on his choices later once the mission was done.

With a bracing inhale of coppery tinged air he let his anger melt back into his subconscious. "Kaidan, grab whatever we can use from Nihlus' body. Lord knows he won't be needing it anymore. Ashley, pack up those grenades and whatever else our smuggler was hoarding around here. We're on the clock so let's move with a purpose."

"Yes sir!" Both chorused at once. Neither had missed how the Commander's voice had warmed from icy steel when interacting with Powell to almost jovial when speaking to them. It was disconcerting to say the least, but since they were obviously on the sunny side neither found it at all unpleasant.

All three quickly gathered up what supplies they could easily scrounge from around the burning dock while keeping an eye open for any homicidal robots that decided to crash their party. As Shepard carefully scroonched himself around a crackling blaze to reach the storage locker beyond his eye caught sight of one of the Geth still twitching nearby.

An odd thought occurred to him as the synthetic's toes curled. "How on earth do those things even stand with legs like that?" He wondered aloud before barking an expletive as one of his armor's forearm seals popped and fused from the heat.

"Everything alright Commander?" Ashley asked quickly.

"Dandy." He replied through clenched teeth as he grabbed the locker and yanked it out of the hungering flames. Another expletive escaped his lips as he tore into the storage unit to get at the prize within. A used set of worthless Onyx armor and a base model Kessler pistol.

Williams raised an eyebrow after seeing his partially melted vambrace and the fruits of his labor. "Worth it?"

"Absolutely." He sniffed stuffing the armor and pistol back into the locker with as much dignity as he could muster before nonchalantly setting it on the ground and nudging back it into the fire with his toe. "Hopefully the two of you had more luck. We'd better get a move on." He looked over to where Alenko was covering Nihlus' body with a worn out looking tarp. "You good Kaidan?"

"All set Commander."

They quickly divided up the spoils, which apart from the thieve's grenades and Nihlus' personal weaponry didn't amount to much, and headed off for the tram that would take them to a nearby spaceport. It also happened to take them into a veritable hive of Geth, robot zombie colonists which they had taken to calling Husks, and a handful of ticking parting gifts meant to level half the colony. All of which were methodically dealt with on a threat priority basis until nothing but exhausted Humans stood in front of the eerie object that had started the whole show.

Shepard half turned as he radioed in their extraction to the Normandy's pilot. As he did he saw Ashley edge closer to get a better look at the object that had cost her entire unit and half the colony their lives. "Doesn't look like much." She muttered to herself.

Without warning the radiating obelisk emitted a sharp pulse of energy. Shepard cut his transmission mid syllable as Ashley started to struggle against whatever unseen force was dragging her forward. His first thought was to shoot it, but that idea was immediately discarded as whatever reaction took place might kill the Chief too. He brushed past Kaidan without knowing what exactly he was going to do.

His first unconscious thought dictated that he had to stop Ashley's movement closer to the device. He reflexively wrapped his arms around her hunched shoulders and dug his heels in to stall their combined momentum. His second unconscious thought demanded that he try to free her from whatever invisible force was drawing them both in. He shifted his weight to pivot her around his hip and fling her backward and away. His third unconscious thought, which was most likely something along the lines of escape, wasn't even done translating into action before that same force snatched him up.

He was vaguely aware of being hoisted skyward but the sensation barely registered as grotesque images were forcibly ground into his brain and paraded across his vision like some depraved slideshow. His face froze into an agony fueled grimace as searing hot pain seeped into every fiber of his being. Just as his nervous system was on the verge of meltdown his world was swallowed in darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

*CITADEL*

"If you expect to get me in a tin foil mini skirt and thigh high boots, I want dinner first." Ashley stated matter of factly before the realization of what she'd said and who she'd said it to dawned. "Sir." She added hastily trying to mask her mistake.

"Just dinner Chief?" Alenko teased.

Shepard stood for a half second to digest the implications before mentally formulating a response that would divert without offending. She was attractive, no doubt, but not really his type. "Should I come back later? Seems like the two of you are having a moment."

Both of his companion's faces began to flush crimson though for entirely different reasons. He had to work to keep a straight face. "No? Alright then let's get moving. We've got to get down to the clinic to find that Turian from before."

"And pray he's nothing like that sleaze ball Harkin." Ashley grumbled shaking off her embarrassment first and trailing after the Commander.

"Amen to that." Shepard agreed. "Although I have to admit it was pretty entertaining watching him wilt like a flower after you nut busted him."

Ashley snorted in disgust. "What kind of moron thinks he can just cop a feel on an Alliance soldier and get away scot free? He's just lucky I'm wearing armor. If he'd gotten a real piece of me I probably would have shot him."

"I have no doubt you would." Kaidan chuckled finally rejoining the banter.

Shepard allowed himself a guarded smile. He was ecstatic that the Normandy's newest crew member was fitting in so well. She was no replacement for Jenkins by any means, but she was good at what she did and had already made solid friendships with most of the crew on their short flight to the Citadel from Eden Prime. His expression dropped somewhat as he recalled the events leading up to their current situation.

Simple shakedown run of the most advanced ship in the galaxy, presided over by an infamous Alliance Captain, and accompanied by a Turian spec ops agent met resistance in the form of Geth and some giant robotic squid. The shakedown turned out to be a smash and grab for some old relic the poor saps at the colony uncovered. Ashley's 212 was obliterated to the last member being her. Shepard's own crewman Jenkins was gunned down by Geth drones. Then as if all of that wasn't bad enough, hundreds of colonists were spiked Vlad the impaler style on enormous spines to become synthetic walking dead.

'No wonder that scientist went off the deep end.' Shepard thought to himself grimly. He recalled fighting through wave after wave of Geth and Husks to reach the spaceport and that damnable Beacon everyone was so paranoid about. Said Beacon had then nearly snatched up Williams if not for his quick intervention. Instead in her place he had received the opportunity to be brain boned by whatever nightmare images were stored in the relic. All that followed were accounts he'd had to learn second hand.

After unabashedly violating his consciousness the Beacon had exploded without even offering a cuddle and smoke afterward, leaving him completely out cold for the better part of a day. When he'd come to back in the Normandy's med bay he'd offered up his best explanation of what had happened for the Captain. Anderson had in turn informed him of the shadowy figure behind the colony's assault, and that they were headed back to the Citadel to try and met out justice.

Since arriving at the Citadel they'd gone straight to the Council to bring down that shadowy figure who just happened to be a Council Spectre, Saren Arterius. Shepard had spent most of that meeting mentally kicking his own ass as the Council demanded proof of Saren's misdeeds. Proof that the Commander could have had if not for the simple fact that he'd put a bullet between it's beady eyes.

'That little bastard is probably laughing himself wet in whatever afterlife there might be.' Shepard had thought darkly as he and his team left the Council chambers to try to chase leads that might yet provide evidence of Saren's betrayal. Hence leading them to their current location outside of a hole in the wall med clinic on the wards searching for a hot headed C-Sec officer.

As they neared the clinic Shepard could just barely hear the sound of raised voices through the closed front door. He reflexively reached for his sidearm while gesturing with nod that the others should do the same. Better to be safe than sorry and always shoot first. He could hear the voices getting louder as he keyed open the door's mechanisms and let the muzzle of his pistol lead them all through.

In an instant he took in the scenario. Several thugs stood clustered around a terrified doctor. The muscle heads seemed unaware of the Turian hunched behind the half high wall partitioning off bed alcoves from the waiting area.

"I didn't say anything I swear!" The Doctor pleaded with tear blurred eyes as the chief asshole shoved his gun in her face.

"That was smart doc. Now you stay smart and if Garrus…" He didn't finish his thought before it registered that unwelcome guests had arrived. He wrapped his arm around the doctor's neck to pull her to his chest as a Human shield and pointed his weapon at the newcomers. "Who are you?"

"The goddamn tooth fairy. Let her go." Shepard commanded.

Just as the last word left his lips Garrus vaulted out of cover and let fly with a single shot. In an instant nondescript bad guy number one's brain spewed out of the back of his thick skull like wet confetti. Shepard was dimly aware of the Doctor's terrified scream as the body limply collapsed onto her, but he was far to preoccupied with the bodies that could still fight back. Ironically nondescript bad guys two, three, and four turned out to be much tougher nuts to crack as they hunkered down behind medical equipment that was actually capable of stopping bullets. For several seconds both parties traded fire before the Commander's temper got the best of him as per usual.

"Cover me!" He hollered to his teammates before bowling forward to smash the bad guys in their jimmies. His biotic corona lit up like a cobalt christmas tree as he flung gravitational care packages in every direction on his way to the far wall. It had the desired effect as the meat heads were caught completely by surprise at the suicidal charge and thrown about like sweaty rag dolls. A few shots into each crumpled tangle of limbs served to eliminate the threat entirely.

Once the twitching stopped Shepard and his team walked over to where Garrus stood with the Doctor. "Sorry about the mess."

Garrus shook his head. "Your timing was perfect Shepard." He looked back at the doctor and laid his taloned hand on her shoulder. "Are you hurt Michelle?"

She hugged her arms tightly around her middle and stared at the floor for a moment. "No. No I'm ok." She raised her eyes to meet Shepard's and his team's. "It's a good thing you got here when you did. Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Shepard replied holstering his weapon. "What was all that about?"

The doctor's stare shifted from Garrus back to the Commander. "Fist sent them to shut me up."

"Who's Fist?" Kaidan asked.

Garrus holstered his own weapon. "He owns that seedy club by the markets, Chora's Den. Somehow he's connected with Saren, but what did he want with you Doctor?"

"I treated a Quarian girl a few days ago. She'd been shot, and was barely able to stand, but she'd made it here looking for sanctuary. While she was here she asked my help in setting up a meeting with the Shadow Broker to trade information on Saren for protection so I put her in touch with Fist. Apparently he didn't want me saying anything about it to anyone." Michelle explained.

Ashley crossed her arms and cradled her chin in one hand. "Hang on. So does that mean Fist went bitch on the Broker to help Saren cover up whatever dirt the Quarian has?"

"That'd be stupid even for him. But that's the way it seems." Michelle affirmed.

"So what information does this Quarian have that's so valuable?" Shepard asked thoughtfully.

"I believe she said it was something about the Geth. She didn't want to share too much, but I'm certain at least some part of her information involved them." The Doctor replied as her face finally started to regain it's color.

"It's not much, but if we can link Saren to the Geth we're in with half a chance to bring him down. We need to find this Quarian before she finds anymore trouble herself." Shepard stated blandly as he moved to the medi-gel dispenser on the wall. "Mind if I uh?" He asked pointing.

"Not at all Commander. Please help yourself."

"Thanks Doctor." He said as he topped off his team's supply. "Looks like we're going to have to pay Fist a visit."

"What about that Krogan, Wrex? Wasn't he after Fist too?" Kaidan asked accepting a small canister of people glue from the Commander before slotting it into a receptacle in his armor.

"That's right. Having a Krogan to help storm the gates might not be a bad idea if Fist doesn't  
feel like sharing." Ashley agreed.

"Can't say I disagree. Know where he might be Garrus?" Shepard asked.

The Turian nodded. "Actually yes. A handful of our officers detained him an hour ago. He's probably still at the station."

Shepard nodded and gestured for his team to move out. "Thanks."

"Wait. I'm coming with you. Saren was my case so I want to be there to see him hang." Garrus insisted vehemently. His tone and flared mandibles made it patently clear that he was expecting some kind of push back to his demanded inclusion.

To his surprise Shepard only smiled, but not in a good way. "In in it till his feet stop twitching eh? I'll take whatever help I can get. Welcome aboard Vakarian." He extended his hand. 


	3. Chapter 3

*CITADEL*

Sizzling hot projectiles spat in every conceivable direction. Chaos reigned as Three Humans, a stiff looking Turian, and an angry Krogan blasted their way into the now barricaded Chora's Den. Fist's security detail was doing their best holding them off, but were inevitably being pushed further back into the club's shadowed corridors. Facing off against three biotics, one of which was Krogan, a C-Sec agent, and a gun crazy Marine only left room for one outcome. Still the time it took to convince Fist's underlings that it was a lost cause was starting to irritate Shepard.

"I swear if that guy says 'GO GO GO' one more time I'm gonna rip his ass out through his eye socket." The Commander shouted over the gunfire.

That got a hearty laugh from the Krogan. "And I thought I had anger issues."

"You don't know the half of it. This one time…" Kaidan started as he let off a series of potshots from behind an upturned stripper platform, but he wasn't able to finish his story.

"GO GO GO!"

Shepard's eyes flared in tandem with the biotic conflagration surrounding him. "GGYEEAAAAHHHH!" He shouted with inarticulate rage as he vaulted over the bar to blindly charge toward the hapless man standing at the back room's entrance.

All remaining enemy guns turned in the direction of the onrushing maniac. Only a few had the chance to discharge their deadly payloads before Shepard's team took full advantage of their distraction. As every hired goon hit the deck, riddled with bullet holes, the Commander reached his wide eyed target. The terrified man's shaking rifle came up, but was roughly batted out of his grip. He frantically backpedaled reaching for the sidearm at his belt. He hadn't even reached half the distance needed to draw the weapon before one of the Commander's gauntlets wrapped around his collar, and shoved him up against the closest wall.

The helpless man threw his arms up trying to protect his face, but Shepard's armored fist easily swung through the gaps to smash unprotected bones and facial tissue. Shepard took hold of the goon's collar with both hands. "Come on! Say it again!"

Tears mixed with blood ran down the man's face. "Say… Say what I? Please don't kill me!"  
He pleaded through the distinct honking gurgle of a broken nose.

"You think that helps? You think ANYONE gains ANYTHING from you constantly saying the same three words over and over?" He punched the whimpering man again although not nearly as hard as the first time.

"N…No I'm sorry."

The Commander looked ready to haul off and slug him again, but relaxed somewhat. "You have access to Fist's back room?"

His captive nodded quickly like a drowning man reaching for a life preserver. "Yes I do. Right here." He shakily retrieved an access card from one of his armor's pockets and held it up.

"Good." Shepard grumbled snatching the card and the man's pistol. He twirled the gun around to point it back in it's owner's face. "I think you should find a different line of work."

The man nodded with his hands still up. Shepard started to turn away toward the door but suddenly whirled around and screwed his new pistol's muzzle into the man's cheek. "And another thing. Telling everyone 'The enemy is everywhere' doesn't mean shit if we all came in through the ONLY entrance!"

Once again a horrified nod was the Commander's only reply. "Good. Now get the hell out of here."

Without any more encouragement the merc hastily slinked away with a boot to his backside from Garrus as extra motivation. Shepard triumphantly held up the key card with a satisfied smirk.

"Would have been faster to just kill him." Wrex pointed out as the team converged on the door to Fist's inner sanctum.

"But infinitely less entertaining to watch." Garrus commented which elicited barely covered half smiles from the others. No one seemed to notice or indeed care that they had just been in life threatening danger.

Shepard shrugged. "Well he was pissing me off. Besides I for one didn't want to go digging through all their pockets trying to find our ticket in." He turned to insert the key card and open the door.

"What doesn't piss you off?" Ashley teased.

"Puppies." He replied sarcastically as the door whisked open.

They quickly passed through the intervening corridor leading to Fist's chamber, taking the time to pilfer anything useful along the way, before flooding through the second door and on to the main event. The man himself, clad in shiny black armor, popped up from the cover of his desk to spray shotgun flavored death at the intruders. Meanwhile a pair of weapon emplacements to either side of him showered everything in front of them with a deluge of bullets.

"Target the Krogan first!." Fist shouted to the VI controlling the turrets. "GO GO GO."

Fist's face crinkled in confusion as Shepard screamed from the other end of the room. "Goddamnit!" His confusion only deepened when he thought he heard laughing.

Apparently that had been the wrong thing to say as a concentrated burst of crushing biotic force slammed into one of his drone's to send it crashing backward off it's perch. His face dropped as another orb of biotic plasma splashed over the second drone and immediately set to work dissolving the molecular bonds holding it together. Even as the club owner's backup disintegrated and unceremoniously exploded, a steady stream of fire continued to pepper his desk. His chances of escape were rapidly diminishing so he did the only thing he could think of. He was going to have to make this look convincing.

With a shout he jumped up from cover and let loose with his shotgun. After only a single blast several answering bullets impacted his chest. He crumpled backward to the floor trying to make it look like they'd hit something vital despite the fact nothing had made it through his shields.

In an instant Shepard's team converged on his prone form with weapons raised. "Don't shoot I surrender!"

Shepard looked ready to shoot him anyway, but managed to get his irritation under control. He still didn't lower his weapon however. "Where's the Quarian?"

"I don't know where she is, that's the truth." Fist lied with his hands up.

Wrex snorted and wracked the slide of his shotgun. "He's no good to you now. Let me kill him."

Wrong answer. Better think quick. "Wait, wait. I don't know where she is but I can tell you where to find her." Fist backpedaled.

Shepard's eyebrows converged. He was getting annoyed again. "That doesn't make any goddamn sense. Where is she?"

"In a back alley by the markets." Fist said quickly as he stood up.

"Why was she going there?" Garrus asked dubiously.

"She was under the impression she'd be meeting with the Shadow Broker."

Wrex shook his head. "Impossible. Nobody knows who he is. Even I was hired through an agent."

"So let me guess. Saren's goons are going to be waiting there for her instead." Kaidan spat after putting the pieces together.

"You can still get to her if you hurry." Fist ventured as a little damage control, and hoped the time crunch would leave him as a loose end instead of a corpse.

The Commander gritted his teeth, but spun on his heel to hurry back the way they'd come. Fist breathed a sigh of relief which caught in his throat when Shepard spoke back over his shoulder. "We had a deal Wrex. Make it quick."

The Krogan cackled menacingly. "With pleasure."

The pain didn't even register in Fist's brain before the contents of his head were turned into hamburger.

*CITADEL*

"Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust him!" The Quarian snarled indignantly while climbing back to her feet.

"Are you ok? Did they hurt you?" Kaidan asked extending his hand to help her.

She tentatively accepted his assistance to stand. "I'm fine. I can look after myself." She glanced about at the veritable war zone around her. "Most of the time." Her's masked visage returned to the strange group in front of her. "Who are you and what is he staring at?"

Shepard quickly snapped his gaze back to where her eyes glowed behind her helmet. 'How can they stand on legs like that?' he mentally asked himself in utter fascination. "I was just… Well anyway. My name's Commander Shepard of the Alliance. This is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko and Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams who serve with me aboard the SSV Normandy. This is Garrus Vakarian, a C-Sec detective, and the pretty one there is Urdnot Wrex."

"Prettier than you." Wrex rumbled under his breath.

Shepard ignored him. "We were told you had information linking the Spectre Saren to the Geth?"

She nodded but conspicuously kept her firearm at the ready. This ragtag group seemed a little off somehow. "That's right. What's your interest in it?"

The Commander half turned to gesture to each of his comrades. "Ashley's entire squad was wiped out by Saren and his Geth on Eden Prime. Both Kaidan and I lost our shipmate in the same fight. Garrus here was in charge of the investigation, and Wrex… Well I don't really know what Wrex wants with Saren, but I assume it's probably because he doesn't have anything else going on at the moment."

Wrex shrugged but didn't correct him.

Shepard turned back to the Quarian and resisted the urge to sneak another peek at her legs. "What was your name by the way? Dr. Michelle didn't say."

His reference to the doctor helped to lower her defenses enough that she stowed her shotgun on the magnetic catches on her suit's back. "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. But Tali'Zorah or Tali is fine."

"Ok then Tali. Before I'm willing to ride those elevators for half the day again. Can you give me an idea of what it is you found? No details necessary I just want to be sure we've got what we need." Shepard stated evenly.

She hesitated for a moment, but decided in the end to accept him at face value. Mostly it took her time deciding whether to trust him because he either seemed particularly shy when he was talking to her or she had something stuck to her shin. "It's an audio recording I recovered from a disabled Geth. He's the one speaking and mentions the attack on your colony."

Again Shepard's eyes seemed to want to flutter downward, but he maintained her gaze with an intense stare of his own at her last statement. "That's… Perfect! Would you mind heading up with us to the Human embassy so we can get the ball rolling?"

Again she hesitated. She'd just been severely burnt only a few minutes ago when trying to trade this particularly hot information. How could she trust this eccentric Human was on the up and up?

He noticed her body language shift. "I understand your reservations. These guys probably sounded exactly the same way before pulling guns on you." He gestured to the bodies of Saren's goons. "So how about this. Everyone else will take a cab up while you and I…" He visibly cringed. "We'll take the elevators."

Ashley immediately protested. "Commander that means we'll be waiting up there for over an hour!"

"You don't have to rub salt in it Chief." He snapped. Then turned to Tali again. "Unless you're ok with riding in a cab with one, or two of us?" His pitch raised slightly from the hope that she would agree.

His hopes died as she shrank away ever so slightly. "Not to seem rude or ungrateful but riding in any vehicle provided by someone else to a place I've never been…" She trailed off.

Before Wrex and Garrus had the chance to simply grab the girl and haul her to the embassy by force Shepard laid out an alternative. "Ok how about this. You four go grab a bite and then head up to the tower. We'll meet you there. Deal?"

Wrex seemed especially keen on the idea as he tried to mask his enthusiasm with a nonchalant nod. Both Kaidan and Garrus shrugged and nodded which left Ashley. "Yes sir." Her teeth grinding was almost audible.

Shepard looked to Tali. "That work for you?"

She nodded.

"Good. Then break and we'll see you in a few." His companions turned to leave. "And don't forget to get me something too. Wait where do you think you'll go?"

Kaidan surprisingly piped up first. "I heard there's a place called O'malley's down on the Chalta Ward that's got good steak and a seasonal brew."

Garrus looked skeptical. "Never been. They serve dextro?"

Kaidan shrugged. "Didn't really ask but it was a Turian over on the markets upper floor that recommended it so it feels like a safe bet."

"Speaking of which, this gonna be on your tab Shepard?" Wrex inquired pointedly.

The Commander considered his next words very carefully. One didn't just offer to buy a full grown Krogan a meal without gauging the impact to his credit balance. "I'll buy and even throw in drinks…" Wrex could barely contain the evil grin worming it's way onto his face before Shepard finished. "As acceptance of your employment with me until Saren buys the farm."

That last bit halted the Krogan's triumphant exultation for a full three seconds as it was now his turn to consider. He raised an eyebrow while openly appraising the diminutive Human in from of him. "Deal. Till he buys the farm."

"That means till we kill him." Shepard clarified quickly as he shook the Krogan's massive paw.

"Yeah, yeah I got it." Wrex grunted.

"Now that that's settled let's get moving. I've a mind to piss off some politicians today. Kaidan, biggest, juiciest steak they have and one of those seasonal ales too." He turned to the Quarian. "What about you?"

Her body language easily belied her shock at the question. "Me? You mean like… Something to eat?"

Shepard was genuinely puzzled for a moment. "Um yes? Aren't you hungry?"

"No… Well I mean yes I am but… Well I don't know it's just that normally people don't offer something like that to someone like me." She stumbled over her words trying to articulate what she was trying to convey without offending him.

Again the Commander was utterly stumped. 'Someone like her? Is she a criminal or something, and that's also why her suit looks so beat up? Or is it offensive to her people to be offered a meal? Maybe she's on a diet? Damn she noticed me looking at her legs again.'

He tried to play it off by letting his gaze smoothly transition to the deck plates before turning his head to silently request an assist from the others. Fortunately Garrus came to the rescue. "Quarians aren't exactly held in the highest regard around here. Mostly they're seen as vagrants and thieves."

"Oh… Well whatever." Shepard shrugged. Tali didn't seem like either albeit he knew exactly two things about her. More than enough to make a snap judgement on her character as a person. "So what should they get you?"

"I… Well I guess a few tubes of nutrient paste would be ok. Thank you." She stammered meekly.

Shepard didn't even begin to hide his expression of distaste. "Nutrient paste? I don't think I even want to know. Garrus can you find something appropriate? Preferably something that doesn't come in a tube?"

The Turian chuckled. "It's your dime so I think I can manage something."

"Ok can we go now? Saren's probably burned through half the galaxy already." Ashley huffed reminding everyone of the actual task at hand.

"You heard the lady. Get the lead out. We'll swing by Udina's office and then meet you all up in the tower." Shepard acquiesced. The four headed off back toward the markets while he gestured back toward the lifts that would take them to the Presidium. "Shall we?" 


	4. Chapter 4

*CITADEL*

Kraven Shepard had always been a talker. No matter where he was or who was with him he could strike up a conversation. It was actually something he prided himself on. This Quarian girl however, utterly put his conversation skills to shame. She was obviously incredibly shy, at least at first. However no sooner had they gotten aboard a lift to the Presidium than the subject of her people came up, and the flood gates came crashing open. He barely got a word in edgewise between descriptions of the Quarian fleet, their governing system, Pilgrimage, AI research, subsequent AI dismantling efforts, and the list went on and on.

Granted the lift moved at about the speed of cold molasses so she had plenty of time to explain each and every detail. Had anyone else talked at him that much he would have politely pretended to listen while letting his mind wander. Surprisingly in this instance the never ending stream of words was actually pretty engaging. He'd never met a Quarian before so every little tidbit of information was new and at least somewhat interest. He was also surprised in just how little effort it took for her to open up, and spill her whole can of beans. No wonder she'd been double crossed so easily by Fist.

"Almost no one refuses out of tradition, but to bring a sub par gift to your new Captain is considered something of a mild insult." She was just explaining further about returning from Pilgrimage.

"So what are you thinking you'll bring back?" Shepard asked checking the lift's floor indicator for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Her newly displayed enthusiasm quickly shriveled behind a wall of insecurity. "I'm… Not really sure."

Her change in demeanor didn't go unnoticed. "Well, is there any way to put something together using some supplies from the Citadel and that engineering prowess you mentioned?" Shepard offered.

She shook her head. "Nothing that would be good enough, and I don't have enough money to afford any decent materials."

The Commander frowned. The little black raincloud forming over her head was going to harsh the buzz of sticking it to Saren and the Council. "There's got to be something… I mean the data you're carrying is going to be what convicts Saren, and he was working with the Geth. Wouldn't your people find that valuable?"

"It would be seen as an accomplishment for sure, but doesn't really benefit the fleet in any way." She answered morosely.

Time to put those conversation skills to work. "Ok let's break this down then. You need something directly valuable to the Flotilla or your ship specifically. It can either be tangible, like a ship or technology, or it could be some kind of action that resulted in appreciable results to the Fleet." He tapped his chin for a few seconds to mull over the possibilities. Suddenly it came to him. "Well. There's bound to be a lot of Geth between here and Saren. I imagine we'll come across something worth bringing back if you come along."

Her head came up but her eyes visibly narrowed. "And what would you want in return?"

'To get a closer look at how those legs work.' He thought to himself. "You said you were something of a prodigy in engine mechanics and if things shake out how I'm expecting them to I'll need all the help I can get. Besides, it looks like you're not half bad with that little pop gun either."

She wasn't sure whether to be thankful or insulted. "You… You mean it? You want me to come with you?"

He shrugged and idly rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm hoping to chase down the most infamous Spectre in Council history. It sure as hell won't be a walk in the park and you've seen the people I'm picking up. We'll all be crammed into some Alliance issue tin can for the next…" He glanced down at the imaginary watch on his left wrist. "Lord knows how long. If you're alright with that then yeah." He extended his "watch" hand.

She stared intently into his eyes to fully determine whether she could trust him or not before slowly extending her own. His fingers tightened around her palm. "You join up you're in it till the end. I'll help you find what you need to go back home but no skipping out until Saren's six feet under. Agreed?"

She applied equal pressure in her own grip. As if she of all people would leave a job half done. "Agreed… but six feet under what?"

Kraven sighed to himself. He was going to need to work on his idiom usage.

*CITADEL*

"You wanted proof. There it is." Ambassador Udina smugly gestured to the Councillors in front of him.

Shepard stood back a few feet watching the evidence presentation and stewing about Udina usurping his glory. He barely heard the Councilors responses as he eyed the back of the ambassador's balding head. The words "extremely punchable" drifted through his mind as his imagination likened Udina's nugget to a lumpy peach that was starting to grow grayish fuzz. He snapped out of his grim reverie when the Ambassador's voice started to raise.

"Send your fleet in!" Udina bellowed with a clenched fist.

"A fleet cannot hunt down one man." The Salarian Councillor objected.

Shepard tended to disagree in this case considering the Geth were also involved, but wouldn't bother saying as much. Instead he'd finally been presented the opportunity he'd been waiting for. "Then send me." He interrupted flatly.

Every person present, including the random few that had gathered in the balconies surrounding the council chamber, knew exactly what he was implying. The Turian Councillor immediately shook his head and made a cutting motion with his taloned hand. "Out of the question. Humanity isn't ready for the responsibility of joining the Spectres."

Kraven almost literally licked his lips. It looked like he might get his chance to rub their collective noses in it after all. "Humanity isn't ready for the responsibility huh?"

"Shepard." Udina tried to caution but he might as well have told the Citadel to stop spinning.

"I'm sorry Councillors. I was under the impression that I just secured the evidence proving the Spectre Saren's attack on Eden Prime. The crime which you cleared him of all charges for about..." He looked at the imaginary watch on his wrist again. "Six hours ago. So imagine my shock at having busted the case in so short a time! That same investigation you shut down minutes before I sat here getting preached at about evidence the first time. The implications are staggering aren't they?"

Udina attempted to interpose himself between the Commander and Councillors as various levels of rage started to twist their features, but again it was a lost cause. Anyone who knew Shepard was well aware of his temper, and were wise enough not to get caught in it's way. He enjoyed the vindication far too much to stop now anyway.

"Well save your sermons cause this ain't no church. I did what you didn't want to and exposed the shit in your punch bowl." Damn with the idioms again. He needed to stop doing that. "So now who's going to clean up the mess? Like you said you can't send a fleet for one man and none of your other Spectres are batshit crazy enough to try to hunt him down themselves." Now to swoop in for the kill. He spread his arms wide. "You've got someone ready and willing right here. You want this problem to go away? I'm the only who can do it."

It was a calculated risk going off the rails like that, but he knew they were in a very tight spot. Saren HAD to be dealt with or else they risked losing a great deal of credibility for the Spectre program in general. His line about the other Spectres not wanting any part was also complete bullshit, but he needed to sell his case if he wanted the chance to carve Jenkins' name in the bastard's skull.

His heart nearly thudded out of his chest as the three Councillor's glanced back, and forth at one another without saying a word. It was clear none of them appreciated being bent over a barrel, especially in front of so many onlookers, but they all obviously knew their backs were against a wall. Finally with subtle nods from her peers to the right and left the Asari broke the tense silence.

"Very well Shepard. We acknowledge your request to join the Spectres and approve your induction into their ranks."

He slowly let out the breath he hadn't even realized he was holding as they gave some overinflated speech about responsibility, and being the arm of the Council or something. It was clear from their faces that all three would rather tear him a new one for letting Nihlus die, but none ended up giving in to the temptation.

'Too bad.' He thought to himself as the three stuffed shirts shuffled off their pulpits while he was ushered back down the stairs to the tower's foyer. He couldn't help the villainous grin that spread across his face at seeing his newly forming team's expressions. 'Oh yeah. This is going to be one hell of a ride.'


	5. Chapter 5

*FEROS, ZHU'S HOPE*

White hot projectiles peppered the ruined wall Shepard crouched behind in a never ending torrent. He couldn't even pop his head up long enough to get a peek at how many flashlights were left since they seemed to be perfectly staggering their fire. What else should he expect from a network intelligenced AI. The rest of his team likewise sheltered behind whatever rubble or twisted steel they could find to escape the barrage. He was beginning to regret coming to Feros before heading to Noveria.

He hated fighting Geth. They lacked any meaningful emotions that could override reason, and since they were networked together they could practically see everything from every angle. Granted their abilities depleted with each platform destroyed, but damned if picking off the first few wasn't like pulling rotten teeth. Especially with the gangly little creepies that sprang from surface to surface trying for a better vantage point. He wouldn't admit it to anyone but those wiry constructs, which the rest of his team had taken to calling "Leapers", scared the ever loving daylights out of him. Just something about how they skittered through the shadows with their single glowing eye constantly fixated on him gave him the heeby jeebies.

"I knew things had gone sideways here before we landed, but I wasn't really expecting such a frosty welcome." Garrus griped after nearly getting the tip of his crest shot off.

His complaints brought Shepard back from contemplating nightmare fuel shuffling about on the walls around him. "Guess the tin cans aren't big on hospitality. Thoughts on kicking down their door?"

"It's the Leapers. They're feeding spotting data to the rest. We need to bring them down otherwise they'll keep us pinned." Tali shouted to be heard over the steady chatter of rifle fire.

Shepard mutely mouthed the words 'thank god' before audibly replying. "Then they need to go first. On my signal blanket the walls with tech mines to bring down their shields. Then use what ya got to get them to the ground so we can finish them off."

"And how are we supposed to avoid becoming swiss cheese while we do that Skipper?" Ashley asked pointedly.

He had an idea about that, but he wasn't entirely happy about it. "Wrex and I will charge the line to give you all the time you need."

"Wait… What?" Wrex questioned. He was all for a stand up fight, but he wasn't dumb enough to think charging headlong into perfectly aimed pulse rifles was a good plan.

Kraven hoped to forestall any objections by implementing his plan as quickly as possible. "We go in 3… 2… 1… MOVE!" He let loose a maniacal howl before vaulting over his cover to barrel forward into the Geth's barricade. To his relief he also heard Wrex bellowing behind him.

Just as planned, several streams of pulse rifle bullets hammered into his barriers to slow his advance. He gritted his teeth, and raised both arms to cover his face. He didn't want to risk reducing his protection even in the slightest to return fire. His amps started to painfully burn beneath his skin as the Geth's barrage relentlessly battered against his weakening barriers. He couldn't see what was happening to either side, but prayed the explosions and bullet ricochets he heard meant his team were making headway. As the searing pressure at the base of his skull finally became unbearable he lurched into a sideways roll and let his shields dissipate. He felt something sting his left lower leg, but ignored it as he righted himself to dive behind a crumbling heap of concrete and rebar.

He quickly scanned the walls and ceiling to ensure that no sticky fingered weirdos were sneaking up on him, and confirmed that none were. He sat for several moments to catch his breath and allow his amps some time to cool. While he waited he realized the steady rate of fire coming from the Geth's lines had noticeably slackened. After another few seconds he hazarded a quick look up over his cover.

Wrex was a little further ahead hunkered down inside an alcove built into the wall. Only three AI constructs appeared to be left functioning while the rest littered the barricade in various stages of disassembly. Most were little more than tech bits swimming in whitish puddles of synthetic goo.

"If I never see another one of those slippery little bastards again it'll be too soon." Kraven grunted under his breath before steeling himself for the last push to mop up.

It was all over in less than two minutes after that. Wrex had moved out shortly after Shepard giving the rest of the team enough time to sweep in on the diminished Geth and demolish them. Once all immediate threats were confirmed to be eliminated the group converged to scavenge through the carnage to find useful tech that might have survived the exchange. As they did Wrex trundled over to the Commander.

"You do that sort of thing often?"

Shepard shook his head while unconsciously grinding his heel into what was left of a Leaper's eye housing. "Not usually. Just didn't feel like playing peek-a-boo with these ugly things all day."

"Playing what?"

Ugh. He needed to download some material on equivalent cultural references. "Nevermind."

Wrex chuckled. "You're about the craziest Human I've met. Got a quad bigger than a set of Tomkah treads. But crazy. Hell you almost kept up with ME!"

Shepard sniffed indignantly. "What do you mean almost? I was out there taking the brunt of it like a champ so you wouldn't get more than you could handle."

Wrex barked a guttural laugh and clapped Kraven on the shoulder. "Ha! One of these days I'll show you how a real biotic juggernaut takes care of business."

Shepard grinned. "That so? I…" He was cut off mid sentence by Tali.

"Shepard you're bleeding!" She exclaimed running over to inspect the three neat holes seeping scarlet from his left calf muscle. With practiced ease she pulled up a list of suit rupture protocols on her omni-tool. "Quick we need to disinfect, and inject you with antibiotics. Does your suit have automatic seals?"

He was momentarily taken aback by her frenzied first aid. "I uh, don't think so." He wasn't entirely sure what all the fuss was about. He got shot all the time. Much more frequently than he cared to acknowledge in fact.

"That was incredibly reckless. What were you thinking?" She scolded squirting antiseptic bio foam into the wounds.

The rest of the team stopped what they were doing to surreptitiously snicker up their sleeves at the scene. All except Ashley who seemed irritated by the whole thing and went back to rifling through junked Geth.

Wrex seemed to find the whole thing particularly humorous. "Perks of taking the brunt like a champ huh?" He guffawed.

The Commander bent all his will to keeping the creeping heat from raising up past his neck and into his cheeks. "Thank you but really it's no big deal Tali. I can just slap a little medi-gel on there and I'm good to go."

She finished applying a suit sealing patch to his armor before angrily glaring up at him. All at once something must have dawned on her because the angry slant to her glowing eyes reversed direction and she hastily stood. "Oh… Of course Commander… I." Just like that timid, shy Tali was back.

They stood in the most awkward silence either of them had likely ever endured as neither knew what to say to the other. Eventually Garrus came to the rescue. Eventually. "So Shepard. Pretty inspired tactics. I could get used to having, oh what did you call it, a flesh shield? Using Wrex was a particularly nice touch."

"A meat shield." Shepard corrected, grateful that someone had changed the subject.

Wrex snorted. "Just because I'm a Krogan."

"No you just happen to make the biggest target." Shepard laughed. "And if you like it that much Garrus we'll put you in the rotation. You make a pretty big target yourself."

The Turian's eyes widened. "That's ok. Forget I said anything."

"Cat's out of the bag Vakarian. Hope you've figured out how to duck."

Garrus cocked his head. "I don't know what a cat is."

Damn it happened again. Was he the only one who used idioms on this sorry crew? "Never mind. We better get moving. I'm sure those Zhu's Hope folks are running on fumes at this point."

With a chorus of yes sirs, and aye ayes the group headed off toward the heart of the colony. As they did Shepard hung back with Garrus. "So back there with Tali… Was it something I said?"  
Garrus chuckled. "Nothing you did Shepard. She's a Quarian."

"Yeah I've gotten that far, but you're going to have to connect a few more dots for me here."

"They have almost no immune system from being out in space so long. Infections can be lethal to them in some cases so it's likely she was just acting on instinct." Garrus explained

"Oh I see." Shepard nodded his understanding. "Anyway let's go see how these colonists are holding up."

*FEROS, ZHU'S HOPE*

Yet again Shepard had found himself regretting coming to Feros first. If he thought the Geth's reception had been cold then the colonist's could have frozen hell. The colonists, and their leader Fidan, had essentially ignored the Commander and his team upon their arrival. Even after basically eliminating their pest problem and setting the colony up with food, water, and power the people seemed completely indifferent. After nearly slugging Fidan's assistant Arcelia, Shepard had ordered his team across the skyway to investigate the Geth controlled Exo-Geni Tower. Presumably whatever secrets resided there were the whole reason the Geth attacked in the first place.

They had battled sentient robots all the way there, and throughout the entire structure which had served to shorten the Commander's fraying temper. This was all exacerbated further by encountering even more damnable Leapers. Then he had discovered what the scientists of Exo-Geni had actually been up to and why the colonists had been acting like lobotomized zombies. One of those scientists was currently crammed into the Mako rover with Shepard's team as they made their way back down the skyway toward Zhu's Hope and the Exo-Geni holdout before that.

Kraven pinched the bridge of his nose trying to contain his intensifying headache and annoyance. "So let me see if I understand this completely. You knew there was an unknown life form living under the colony and that it was somehow affecting people?"

Lizbeth Baynham nodded sullenly. "That's right."

He had to mentally stop himself from grinding his teeth. "And it never occurred to you to try to evacuate them and quarantine the area?"

Her brows furrowed. "Of course it did."

He was starting to get angry. "But you didn't. You just sat back and watched it happen."

She unconsciously shrank away and hugged her arms around her middle. "I tried to stop the experiments, but they revoked my access and suspended me."

Shepard leaned forward. "Who's they?"

She sighed. "Jeong."

"How did I know?" Shepard growled sitting back against the jostling hull of the Mako. "Anyone else know about this thing, what did you call it, the Thorian?"

She shook her head and met his gaze again. "Only Jacobs and Kurim, but both of them were killed when the Geth attacked."

The Mako's passenger bay lapsed into silence for a few minutes until Baynham worked up the nerve to speak again. "What are you going to do Commander?"

Kraven stared off into the rubble winding by his slit shaped viewport for a while before answering. "If he's really polite? Maybe just give his cosmetic surgeon a shiny new pair of shoes. If not…" He trailed off without finishing.

Lizbeth mouth gaped in horror. "I meant about the colonists!"

"Oh… I haven't really thought about that yet. I assume none of you came up with a way to counteract the Thorian's spores?"

"No we…" She halted as the radio blared with her mother's voice before abruptly being cut off.

"Weapons ready." Shepard called to his team. They'd survived the better part of a day battling Geth. No sense letting their guard down now just to get capped by some morally bankrupt eggheads.

In less than a minute the Mako pulled up to the parking garage that had been converted into an Exo-Geni safety bunker. Lizbeth darted out the egress hatch first followed closely by the rest of Shepard's squad.

"Keep the engine running. This won't take long." He called back to Tali who remained at the rover's helm.

"Yes sir." She called back, not particularly disappointed that she would miss whatever came next.

As one the ground team shuffled down the gangway to the parking garage just in time to see Jeong's security officers roughly detaining Lizbeth's mother Juliana. 'Not looking good for him so far.' Shepard thought darkly.

"Let her go you son of a bitch!" Lizbeth screamed running from behind the makeshift barricade at the ramp's entrance to help her mother.

Jeong's expression pulled into an ugly grimace as beads of anxious sweat formed on his brow. "Damnit. Come out where I can see you!"

"Say pretty please." Shepard called back.

Jeong looked around confused. "I… What? Just get out here!"

"Pretty please with a cherry on top."

The befuddled scientist pulled a pistol from his belt. "Get out here now or else!" He screeched as his voice cracked.

"Till the count of five. Pretty please with a cherry on top… One."

Jeong looked to his security detail but neither had any idea what game the Commander was playing at.

"Two."

Kaidan broke in. "I'd do what he says if I were you."

Jeong shakily pointed his weapon at the barricade. "It was too much to hope that the Geth would kill you."

"Three."

"Don't make him say five or you'll regret it." Ashley chimed in as the diminutive man shook like a big sweaty leaf.

"Four."

Jeong resolve finally snapped. "That's enough! Kill them!"

The scientist got off a single shot before a brilliant blue streak bolted from the barricade to barrel into him. All at once the bone crushing kinetic energy of Shepard's mass moving at nearly ninety miles per hour slammed into the hapless scientist. A high pitched squeak escaped his lungs as his body was flung backward like a limp noodle to plow unceremoniously into the wall behind. Pain didn't even register in his brain as every bone in his body shattered from the impact.

"Five."

The rest of Shepard's crew moved out from the barricade keeping their weapons trained on Jeong's stunned security guards.

"A little harsh wasn't it?" Garrus asked eyeing the Human puddle.

"He wasn't being polite. I even gave him till count of five." Shepard responded casually before turning on the horrified scientists huddled nearby. "Now so help me if I find out any more of you bastards were part of this goddamn colonist experiment I'll… Well I don't know what I'll do, but you can be damn sure it's going to be worse than that!" He shouted pointing.

"Wh… What experiment?" Juliana tentatively asked once the echoes of the Commander's bark faded.

"There's a creature living underneath Zhu's Hope with some kind of mind control capabilities. Exo-Geni knew it had taken over the colonists but they ordered us to keep our distance and study it's effects." Lizbeth answered quickly.

Kraven carefully watched everyone's expressions to gauge whether a second helping of ass whooping would be needed. Fortunately the general shock displayed on the scientist's faces appeared to be genuine enough. "That's right. Not to mention my team has been working in and around that colony for almost thirteen hours. So if you'll excuse us we've got a date with a psychopathic shrub." He turned to leave but a hand grabbing his elbow stopped him short.

"What about the people in Zhu's Hope? What are you going to do to them?" Lizbeth asked anxiously.

Shepard's rock hard expression softened. "Depends on how far gone they are. I'll do my best to avoid unnecessary deaths, but I can't let them stop me or injure my crew."

"I… I just… This was all my fault. If more of them end up dead because of…" She trailed off as tears started to gather in the corners of her eyes.

He put a comforting hand on her shoulder but his tone remained frosty. "Like I said. I'll save the ones I can, but I can't promise more than that.." He looked to his squad. "Time to go to work."


	6. Chapter 6

_Been a bit since an update. Christmas, New Year, and work have a way of monopolizing your time. Here's a long one for the folks that have been waiting. Enjoy_

*FEROS, ZHU'S HOPE*

Shepard leaned back against the armored wall of their transport as he casually searched the faces of his newly formed crew. So far he had been pleasantly surprised by their cooperation and professionalism in the face of what was undoubtedly a complete departure of their normal operations. Ashley was obviously irritated by the inclusion of so many aliens, but for the most part kept it to herself. Navigator Presley had also let slip that he was none to thrilled with a Turian being aboard. Joker, and Kaidan on the other hand didn't seem phased by it in the least. Tali just seemed happy to be included in something which left only Garrus and Wrex.

The Commander sighed inwardly as he imagined the uphill battle ahead of him regarding their continued cooperation with one another. Fortunately so far both were still just sizing one another up, and seeing what the other was prepared to tolerate. He knew if they started anything in earnest while out on a mission he would need to come down hard on them. However if they chose to sort things out on their own time without inflicting debilitating injuries to one another he was prepared to let things play out.

Still if he could inject a little camaraderie and steer them away from a conflict, he certainly wouldn't pass up the chance. He just needed to play off of what everyone in his motley crew had in common. They all knew how to fight.

"Coming up on the colony's skyway entrance." Tali called back from her place at the controller's yoke.

Shepard smiled. He'd been especially impressed by the young Quarian's skills given how reserved and shy she was around everyone else. Little did anyone realize that her non-threatening personality actually hid a cold blooded Geth destroyer. She'd meticulously eradicated every single Geth platform swarming the skyway without so much as a chip of paint flaking off their tank's hull. Even despite the fact that the aforementioned vehicle handled like a two legged elephant.

"Thanks Tali good work. Weapons ready people. Remember we're trying to minimize civilian casualties, but if it's you or them then it's always them." He unclipped his own weapon and wracked the slide to chamber a round. He would attempt to let his fists sort things out the old fashioned way, but failing that a good shotgun blast would undoubtedly finish the job.

Within a few moments the rover ground to a halt, and his team jumped to pile out of the vehicle. He followed Tali out after everyone else had exited then made his way to the front of their formation. He stopped dead when he caught sight of the sickly looking creature huddled a dozen feet away.

"Um... Was that here when we left?" He asked over his shoulder without taking his eye off the motionless figure.

After several seconds Kaidan responded for the group who were currently engrossed by macabre curiosity. "I don't think so Commander. Although I'll be honest, I was a little more preoccupied with the Geth in front of us than what was behind."

"Can't have eyes in the back of our heads." Kraven agreed as he gradually inched forward.

The figure was definitely humanoid although the pale, sallow hide hanging from it's bones gave it a decidedly alien appearance. As he got closer he could almost see the purplish lattice of veins within it's puke colored skin pulsing with a heartbeat. His weapon stayed loosely pointed at whatever it was, but he decided he'd try to communicate.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

He had to forcibly command his body to stand firm as his words elicited something of a reaction. In a disquieting motion that sent a shiver up his spine, the thing started to uncoil itself. One muscle at a time rippled like a snake beneath it's hanging flesh as it slowly stood with disjointed jerky movements. For some reason it reminded Kraven of a puppet master picking up a limp marionette and testing the strings.

He had a hard time finding his voice again as the creature's hollow, black eyes stared back at him. "I'm Commander Shepard. Are you alright?" It stood silently staring. By now he could see it used to be Human, but was definitely not anymore.

"I don't like this Skipper." Ashley warned from behind. "That's not one of the colonists is it?"

Truth be told he didn't like it either, but if it was a colonist he needed to ascertain exactly how much humanity this person still possessed. "Can you understand me? Are you alright?" Still no response.

Against his better judgement he started to reach out with his left hand. "It's ok. Come with us so we can help treat you for whatever... This is." He said trying to keep a grimace from twisting his face.

He practically jumped out of his own skin when the creature's jaws shot open letting loose an unearthly wail. As his legs instinctively reacted by propelling him away the thing's scream morphed into a grotesque gurgling sound. That sound was shortly accompanied by a viscous stream of vomit. Without conscious thought Shepard raised his gun while still back pedaling to fire a nearly solid cloud of shot into the beast's chest.

With a splattering sigh it collapsed in on itself before crumpling to the ground in a soggy heap. Shepard reached up to wipe a drop of disgusting ichor off his chin with an unnerved frown. "Ok yeah... That's just about the most awful thing I've ever seen." He muttered to himself before turning to his crew who looked equally as shocked and disturbed as he felt. "If it looks like that put it down."

"Commander look!" Tali exclaimed pointing to the concrete a few feet away from him which was rapidly liquifying under the vomit's acidic touch.

"No exceptions." He reaffirmed watching the sickening puddle gradually sag into the skyway's surface. "We can try to help the ones that still seem Human, but any that look like this get a one way ticket to Hades. We clear?"

All but one answered in the affirmative. "Hades? Like Hades Gamma?" Tali asked.

Shepard sighed. "Yep... Hades Gamma..."

He could tell she was about to ask why, but a quick nudge from Ashley's elbow stopped her short. He resolved to explain what he meant once they were back on the ship and headed away from Feros. "Here we go. Watch each other's backs."

With that he keyed open the massive door barring them access. He let out a heartfelt expletive when he saw dozens more mutated people jerking to their feet ahead of him. None of which had been present upon their departure from the colony's heart. This of course meant that they had been gathered together with a purpose in mind. That purpose ostensibly being to stop him, and his team from poking their noses where someone, or something, didn't want them to. The weed knew he was coming, and had already set the table. It would be rude not to at least make a token appearance.

Without a second thought he worked the slide on his weapon and charged headlong into the shambling mutants. Bullets spattered chaotically into the writhing mass of limbs to scatter bits of bone and wet flesh in every direction. His shotgun boomed, adding it's voice to the swirling cacophony accompanied by the visceral whip crack of his biotics discharging. Before long both fell silent as he started to rely more and more on his own fists, elbows, and knees to beat back the tide.

In hindsight he admitted to himself that perhaps throwing himself into a throng of essentially unknown hostiles without softening them up first was somewhat imprudent. Raking claws, acidic vomit, and deathly howls all assaulted him from every angle as the walking corpses tried to roll him under with their sheer weight of numbers. They didn't appear very durable which was a definite advantage. A stern glare seemed enough to send them flying apart like gruesome party balloons filled with rotting fruit. ';;;;;;;;;;;;;;;/The trouble arose when several lurched forward at once to swing their blade tipped fingers, or evacuate the contents of their guts like an obscene fountain.

He cursed his lack of foresight, but soldiered on through the forest swinging limbs and bile waterfalls. Still it felt good to let his body stretch a little after playing hide and seek in Exo Geni's building. Or was it cat and mouse? Regardless he found his mood ever so slightly improved despite the acid eating away at his suit, and the blood weeping from a narrow miss above his left eyebrow. He almost smirked as the final gelatinous zombie crumpled to the ground in front of him. His armor would be ruined by the time they returned to the Normandy, but damn if he didn't enjoy a good brawl instead of cowering behind chest high walls.

"Something funny Commander?" Tali inquired as the crew moved on past the carnage he stood in.

He was aware that he was getting odd looks from the rest of his team, but didn't mind in the least. He knew he was crazy. They were all just starting to figure it out. "Felt good to cut loose a little. We've been playing peek-a-boo with the flashlights all day so I couldn't pass up a chance at some good old fashioned fisticuffs... I mean as close to fisticuffs as you can get duking it out with half rotten shrub monsters..." He stood contemplatively for a few moments trying to better articulate the feeling, but gave up with a shrug of his shoulders. He didn't notice her keen stare watching him intently as he turned to follow his companions.  
His mood began to darken again as they slowly wound their way down through the network of stairwells and passageways that led back to the core of Zhu's Hope. They had quickly encountered non-mutated, but seemingly crazy, Humans on the way although those Humans still retained the ability to use firearms. Firearms that they had no qualms about using on his people.

"Maybe it's just me, but don't they seem a little less grateful than maybe they should be?" Kaidan sarcastically asked as he secured an unconscious colonist's wrists with medical tape.

"That's what we get for acting altruistically." Shepard grumbled. He would do everything he could to save anyone he actually could. However doing so by playing a living target without a lethal response was grating on his famously short temper.

Eventually they broke back into the cordon of prefabs leaving a slew of what his people started calling "Creepers" and unconscious colonists. Somehow his team seemed to have a name for just about everything. He'd tried to float the idea of Sappers but ended up being shot down which also made him a bit cranky.

They fought their way deeper, until reaching the derelict freighter that had been parked so as to cover a set of stairs winding down below the colony. The colonist's leader attempted to confront them, and subsequently blow his own head off in an act of defiance against the alien presence slithering through his mind. A light tap from Wrex's balled up fist proved enough to knock the hapless man into blissful slumber. Until he woke with a splitting headache some time later of course.

"Well I guess there's only one place left to go." Shepard said resignedly. "Looks like most of the folks we spoke to earlier are accounted for so I would guess nothing but Creepers down below."

He was about ready to split his team to finish up. While some would go down to finish trimming the hedges the rest would stay up top to finish combing the colony and see to it's residents once the fighting was done. Just before droning out designations a thought occurred to him.

"Alright. Wrex, Kaidan, you're both coming with me. The rest of you, I want every civvy rounded up in case anything funny happens, and I want all of our stuff packed so we're ready to ship out as soon as we're done."

He received a few tired salutes in response to his own less than enthusiastic set of instructions. They were all thoroughly exhausted, himself included, however he still retained enough fire to nip a niggling question in the bud.

He started down the hidden staircase with his two biotic compatriots in tow. "So Wrex... Interested in putting our little disagreement to rest?"

"Disagreement?" The Krogan asked incredulously.

"I believe you mentioned something about how a biotic juggernaut does it?"

Wrex cracked a half smile. "Oh that. I wouldn't want to tarnish our new leader's good name by trouncing him in a test of strength."

"Getting cold feet are we?"

"Just giving you the chance to keep the dignity you already have. But if you're really itching to go toe to toe with a mercenary legend. Who am I to argue?"

Shepard flashed a predatory grin. "Glad I could convince the legend to defend his title. How about it Kaidan? You up for a little fun?"

The younger man solemnly nodded. "Don't know if I'll be able to keep up, but I'm game."

"Fantastic. Then here's the rules."

Wrex huffed at the imposition.

Shepard ignored him. "No firearms whatsoever. It's biotics, or melee to make kills. If you have to pull a gun you're out. If you lose consciousness you're out. If someone has to save you you're out. Winner is the one at the end with the most kills. We don't have any way to keep track so you're on your honor not to lie about totals. Got that legend?"

"As if I'd need to." Wrex grunted. "The stakes?"

Shepard tapped his chin. "Hmmm. Loser is on latrine duty for two weeks and will be given the title of 'princess'. Winner gets top of the line custom mods from Spectre requisitions the next time we're on the Citadel. They will be referred to as 'sensei' by the losers until that happens. Deal?"

Wrex nodded with unflinching confidence. "Good stakes."

"Fair enough to me." Kaidan agreed although hardly as comfortably as his Krogan counterpart.

Shepard made a solemn show of stowing his weapon. "Then may the best juggernaut win."

A fresh stream of adrenaline started to trickle through his veins as they continued down into the shadowed bowels beneath the colony. His blood itched for the action he knew was coming. This was the kind of thing he absolutely lived for. As his body was metaphorically screaming at him to get moving the trio reached the bottom of the stairs and a large multi-tiered chamber beyond.

"Now we just need to find out what kind of..." He started to say as his eyes caught sight of supposed 'plant' they had come to exterminate. He stared disbelieving at the bulbous, pulsating mass suspended above a bottomless pit by enormous fleshy tendrils. "Nothing is ever simple is it..."

"That's... interesting." Kaidan breathed equally at a loss.

"It stinks." Wrex grumbled.

Kraven was just opening his mouth to respond when an unsettling groaning drone escaped from the creature's bloated body. The Commander's lips curled into a sneer of disgust as some viscous yellow fluid started to ooze from what could only loosely be described as the beast's face. He nearly choked on rising bile as a pair of feet appeared between writhing tentacles followed shortly by the rest of an emerald skinned Asari.

Kaidan must have noticed his averse reaction to the spectacle. "You alright Commander?"

Shepard shook his head and swallowed hard. "I just watched a cancerous potato give birth to a snot soaked Asari. No I'm most certainly not."

The shrub's progeny seemed not to notice the off color comment. "Creature's of flesh and bone. You are within and before the Thorian. It demands you stand in awe."

"Um... I think we'll pass. Look we're in a bit of a rush so this will only take a minute. Basically you've enslaved a group of innocent people top side as part of a crappy science experiment. Let them go, and your little servant there, and we'll be on our way." Shepard offered as some color started to return to his cheeks.

The Asari scoffed. "Fools. You are nothing more than tools to be used, and disposed of as seen fit. The flesh creature Saren also made demands of the old growth before setting the cold ones to destroy it. It will listen no more."

As soon as the Asari's first insult left her lips, Shepard pulled up his omni-tool. He nonchalantly scrolled through a list that displayed above his left arm until finding what he was looking for. Even as she was finishing speaking he started a stream of extremely old, and outdated music playing.

Again she didn't seem to notice his actions. "Here's the thing. I'm tired, dirty, and more than a little sick of this rock. You get one more chance to change your mind or you get burned down to the root rubbins. So I'll tell you one more time. Let these people go."

The Asari's face twisted into an enraged grimace. "Insolent insect! Die in ag..."

Her last word was abruptly cut short by Shepard's boot impacting her chest to send her careening into the darkness below. The massive Thorian roared in outrage as a chorus of sickening wails echoed from every corner of the chamber. In seconds dozens of Creepers began to slither out of the woodwork to assault the trio.

"Game on!" Shepard shouted as his companions scattered. He unconsciously smiled as an antiquated copy of Free Bird continued to serenely drift through his audio pickups.

Shambling horrors lurched out of the darkness toward him with single minded determination. Off to his right Kaidan was setting himself up to create a funneling kill zone. To his right Wrex was aimlessly charging headlong into whatever got in his way. Confident that his team was capable of looking after themselves, he re-centered his focus on the vomit brown wall of mutants roiling his way. 'Those two yahoos may be good, but I'll be damned if I let either one beat me.' The mere thought made him mad. The good kind. The kind that gets shit done.

He waited another few heartbeats until the tempo of the music shifted into high gear. In the same instant his own switch flipped as an intoxicating flood of adrenaline, and endorphins spiked his blood. Azure fire sparked to life in a menacing corona all around his body as he recklessly launched himself forward into the gibberish tide. The results were both spectacular and disgusting.

Spongy limbs snapped off to cartwheel out in all directions. Skulls imploded sending droplets of greenish ichor splattering across walls, floors, and even the ceiling. Acidic bile spewed into the air creating a choking miasma as bodies hit the deck with a pulpy smack. Through it all Kraven Shepard could only hear the shredding guitar blaring in his ears, and see the red haze blanketing his vision. All he needed to know was that his brain was telling him that he was having fun, and to keep it up. No civvy's to worry about, team was out of the way and could handle themselves, and collateral damage was a non issue. In essence the perfect storm.

He laughed and launched himself into another gaggle of nasties to pummel them into foul smelling goo. Had he still had the presence of mind he would have taken note of the different styles of combat on display around him, and assigned them a mental picture.

Wrex would have been a bowling ball. Head down charging in a straight line to bulldoze through thicker knots of Creepers before planting a massive foot to bash the stragglers with a wicked backhand. Kaidan by contrast would have been a waterfall. An endless stream of conflicting gravitational fields pulverizing and tearing wet flesh apart like tissue paper. Finally if a casual observer had to describe Shepard's style the most likely image would be one of a tornado. Every lightning fast strike of his fists, feet, knees, and elbows brought with it an explosive burst of biotic energy. Three very different styles. All extremely effective.

Except when the Thorian unleashed it's secret weapon. As Shepard was winding up to turn a Creeper's ugly mug into mashed potatoes a powerful kinetic force slammed into him from the side. Before he could even comprehend what had happened he was already halfway through a crumbling stone wall. He was painfully aware of his left shoulder dislocating as he hit the ground and tumbled to a stop butted up against something. Blood poured from his nose, and mouth as he drunkenly staggered to his feet. He glimpsed jade flesh and glittering eyes through the hole he'd just made, and spat out a curse.

"Thought I'd killed you already." He wiped some of the blood from his face with the back of his working hand and set it on what he assumed was a piece of rebar jutting from a pile of rubble. "Well. Don't start what you can't finish you little hobgoblin."

He wrapped his fingers around the impromptu handle and yanked it free of it's entrapment. It came loose much easier than it should have, and while it was still heavy, it didn't feel like he'd pulled a very large chunk of concrete off with it. Still it was more than he could heft with a single arm since his left was hanging uselessly at his side, so he simply drug it on the ground behind him.

Even through the pain, and mental fog he recognized a golden opportunity. He poked his bloodied visage through the hole in the wall, and plastered a maniacal grin over his face. His eyes met the resurrected Asari's. "Here's Johnny!" She probably wouldn't get the reference, but he wasn't sure when another chance like that would come around again.

He bashed through the remnants of the wall to be met by another throng of Creeper minions. Without a second's hesitation he charged his already overheating biotics and catapulted himself on to meet them. As soon as his momentum carried him into his first adversary he swung his makeshift weapon in a sweeping horizontal arc. His charge target flew apart upon impact, but the others standing at their zombie comrade's side were completely vaporized.

He didn't really notice as he advanced on the Asari who now had a peculiarly worried expression. She started to backpedal, but he wouldn't let her off so easy. Again he charged his biotics to propel him toward her, but failed to register that his right arm was starting to feel lighter or that the burn from his amps had suddenly intensified. She threw out a concentrated ball of energy to deter him, but missed as he plowed into her with the force of a freight train. As she was violently thrown back he swung his makeshift weapon again. She instantly liquified as it's leading edge bit into her body.

"I didn't think I hit her that hard…" He finally looked down at what he held in his hand as his neural implants started to overload. "Wait... When did I pick up a..." His vision went dark as he slipped into unconsciousness.


	7. Chapter 7

_**ivandundalov7: Thanks! I may not be too fast with updates because I want this to be fun, and not work. However encouragement always helps the process move a bit quicker lol**_

*SSV Normandy*

There were screams. Unearthly wails that seemed to endlessly echo through his skull while simultaneously being run through an electronic filter. He could see meat and sinew being liquified before oozing across circuitry and melding into machinery. He was familiar with this nightmare. He'd had it almost every night since Eden Prime. The difference this time was that it was a great deal more detailed. More vivid. The sense of agony, and indescribable violation was much more palpable this time too. As was the feeling that he was being given directions to somewhere. He didn't remember seeing a planet before or another ship that looked like the one Saren was currently in possession of.

None of it made sense. It didn't have to. It pissed him off which was all he needed to know. He didn't really care what the vision meant, or what the ship represented. He just knew they were connected, and the latter was going to need to be dealt with. Preferably with many titanic explosions and giant space guns. The satisfying image of the gargantuan purple ship going supernova was more than enough to chase away any lingering misgivings he had from his nightmare. Although there was still some kind of incessant beeping that refused to fade. In fact it seemed to be getting louder.

He endured the irritating noise for several minutes while doing his best to hold onto his destructive daydream, but couldn't recover his concentration. At last he gave up, and started to open his eyes. Except his eyelids felt like they were being held closed by a pair of bricks. He gritted his teeth, and tried again. This time he was rewarded by the tiniest sliver of light seeping into his pupils. Encouraged, he redoubled his efforts and with great effort eventually convinced his stubborn soul shutters to widen.

The world around him was mostly just a dark blur at first, but gradually began to swim into focus. As he waited for his vision to improve he cast about with his other senses. He could smell the telltale funk of antiseptic and medi-gel which helped to confirm his suspicions that he was on a bed in the infirmary. He heard the rustle of fabric off to his right which alerted him to the presence of someone nearby. He assumed it was the doctor until he heard the tiny whining hum of a respiration exchanger.

Despite his muscles screaming protest he swiveled his head to bring her into view. "Tali?"

She practically jumped out of her suit upon hearing his croaking voice. "Sh- Shepard! I didn't know you were awake."

He would have chuckled if his parched throat had let him. "No worries. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He spent more time in med bays than he liked so visitors weren't terribly common anymore.

She sat up a little straighter. "I… It's pretty late so everyone who isn't ground side is asleep. Plus the ship is so quiet I tend not to sleep very well. I just figured I would come by to see how you were doing."

"I'm touched… Did you say groundside? We still haven't left Feros?"

"No actually we're at Therum. Navigator Pressley said that was the next world on our list so he figured we should get a jump start while you were recuperating."

Shepard nodded appreciatively. "Glad to hear. We don't have a lot of free time." He lapsed into silence for a second. "Wait… Did you say you can't sleep because it's too quiet?"

"It's not something I'm really used to. Normally back home, if a ship isn't making the right noises it means something is malfunctioning."

He leaned back into the paper thin pillow on his bed. "Ah. Finch in the gold mine kind of thing huh?"

She cocked her head quizzically. "What?"

He sighed inwardly and hoped the day would come when he completely ran out of idioms. "Never mind. The company is definitely appreciated."

He could have sworn he saw her ghostly glowing eyes smiling. "Thank you."

"So how long have I been out?"

Her jovial demeanor instantly evaporated as she pulled up a chrono on her omni-tool. Back to shy, nervous Tali again. "A little over two days."

"Well… Shit. What happened?" He had a vague idea but considering he felt like he was just coming off the worst bender of his life, he wouldn't turn down an explanation.

She wrung her fingers for a moment before answering. "Um… The three of you went down to fight the Thorian. We'd just finished rounding up all the colonists we could find when Kaidan called for a med evac for you. When we got there the Thorian was dead, and you were unconscious. There was an Asari Commando there too, but she wasn't completely coherent…" Tali seemed like she had more to say but remained quiet.

His rattled mind felt about as sharp as a box of socks, but he was keenly aware of her discomfort. "… Sounds like everything sort of hit the fan. You ok?"

She nodded quickly. "Yes Commander. It's just… Well Kaidan or Wrex could explain better since they actually saw."

"Saw what?" Ordinarily he would have started to get annoyed by the lack of details, but somehow he found her awkwardness to be endearing. "Don't tell me I did something embarrassing."

She shook her head. "No it definitely wasn't something embarrassing…"

A cold thought gripped him. "Wait… You said I was unconscious. Does that mean I… Lost? Son of a bitch, were there any Creepers left alive when you got there? Did they kill any without me?"

"… No. There weren't any Creepers left…"

It was a slim chance, but one he was determined to exploit if he could. He didn't relish the idea of calling a subordinate Sensei or being referred to as princess either. All that aside she had him officially stumped. "So what's up? You're killing me with the vagueness here."

"I… Don't really know how to explain it. They said you found some kind of artifact, and then went completely Barukaza."

"Um… You'll have to run that one by me again."

"Crazy. You went crazy."

He stopped to think for a moment. "… Crazy how?"

"Like I said I wasn't there so I can't give you any specifics. Once they get back you can ask them."

"Hmm… I suppose I will. What about this artifact?"

"It's down in the shuttle bay. We weren't really sure where else to put it, and didn't want to leave it at the colony."

He started to prop himself up, and slide the needle from his vein. "Let's go take a look. What about the colonists? Did they snap out of it?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. Almost as soon as Kaidan called for help they all started to come to, and seemed to be behaving normally… Are you sure you should be moving around?"

He waved away her concern as he swung his legs over the side of his bed. "Nothing to worry about. I've had much wo…ooooooo." As soon as his feet hit the deck and his legs straightened his head started to swim.

He teetered and tried to take a step forward, but immediately started to lose the fight with gravity. He pitched forward, attempted to catch himself but overcompensated, and then began to fall backward. He would have unceremoniously greeted the deck if Tali hadn't leapt from her chair to catch him.

She gingerly helped him to sit back on the bed. He wasn't entirely prepared for the assistance, but was certainly thankful for it. He shook his head to clear it, but that only served to set the room spinning. "Thank you… Did I take one to the nugget or something?" She started to reply, but he quickly clarified. "I mean did I get hit in the head?"

"Oh… In that case yes. At least the doctor seemed to think you had a concussion."

"Explains the headache." He grunted before trying to rise again.

Tali stood awkwardly to the side hovering on the indecision of whether to help him or try to get him to lay back down. It wasn't until he started to waver again that she chose to step in, and loop one of his arms around her neck.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Together they started the arduous journey from the infirmary to the elevator. On the way he was struck by just how thin, and frail she felt beneath her suit and yet how strong she was. He was no string bean by any means yet she hardly balked at the weight he was forced to burden her with. He was also struck by just how weathered, and beaten up her suit was. Both realizations resulted in two overarching conclusions. First and foremost he needed to get that girl something real to eat. Second, her suit appeared ready to fall apart at any moment, a prospect he wasn't entirely opposed to given how curious he was as to what lay beneath. Still he needed his team to be at their very best, and using subpar protection in a hot zone simply wasn't going to cut it.

Finally they reached the elevator and started it's mind numbing crawl southward. "So… How does our little expedition compare to life aboard the Fleet?" He had an inkling he knew how to get her to open up. He figured now was as good a chance as any to test his theory.

"A great deal more dangerous." She answered flatly.

"Can't argue with that. I don't imagine you had many Geth creepies or shrub monster thralls prowling around."

She laughed. "Not so much."

They lapsed into silence for a moment. He decided to try again. "Where did you get your suit?"

She readjusted his arm on her shoulder. "We're given them by our family once we're old enough to strike out on our pilgrimage."

"Running from Saren's goons must have taken it's toll."

She sighed. "It did, but not like that. I assume you're referring to how ratty mine looks?"

"I… Well… I don't mean any offense." He mentally kicked himself.

"Don't worry it's nothing I haven't heard already."

He thought about simply apologizing and calling it a day before turning his foot into a three course meal, but decided to forge ahead to sate his curiosity. "Didn't you mention that your father was an admiral in the Flotilla?"

"I did."

"Oh… Wouldn't that sort of entitle you to, I don't know, better equipment?"

She shook her head and looked down at the floor. "You'd think so…"

His experiment wasn't going very well. His assumption being that if he wanted to get her talking all he'd have to do was mention the Fleet or her pilgrimmage. He'd obviously hit a sore spot this time. "I see. Sorry for prying."

Her head came up. "No it's ok. Just a little family drama. You wouldn't want to hear about any of that."

The lift finally came to a stop and opened the door facing the cargo bay. "I asked didn't I?"

She was quiet for a moment before they exited the elevator. "Yeah… I guess you did."

"Anyway let's see about this antique I dug up." He didn't notice her surreptitiously glancing up at him as they made their way over to Ashley's workbench.

He stopped short. "So this is it?"

She nodded.

"Wow… That's interesting." Somehow when Tali had mentioned an artifact he had assumed she meant some kind of ancient tablet, or pot or something. The wicked looking instrument in front of him defied those expectations. "It's a sword."

"Not just any sword apparently. From what Kaidan and Wrex said you went completely berserk while you had a hold of it, and just about anything it touched exploded like a bomb went off."

His eyes gradually scanned along the much abused surface of the blade trying to subconsciously suppress an involuntary shiver. It was big, but not comically so. There were a myriad of cracks, scuffs, and pits marring it's finish from who knew how many years used, and buried. It was lightly curved in along the cutting edge but widened substantially near the end denoting it's use as a cleaving weapon as opposed to a stabbing one. It's handle, which appeared to be made of some sort of bone, was badly weathered and cracked. He could barely see some kind of circuitry buried beneath a housing that formed the bulk of the diagonally canted hand guard. The material it was fashioned from was obviously not native to Human habitats although he couldn't begin to guess what species had constructed it. Peaking out from the numerous blemishes along the blade were some kind of runic script that he wouldn't even try to read. All in all it looked like a useless relic.

She gently nudged him. "Are you ok?"

"Hmm… Yeah I'm good. Just curious." He reflexively started to reach for the weapon.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I've got a brilliant Quarian engineer babysitting me. What could go wrong?" He chuckled as he wrapped his fingers around the handle.

He could feel her tense, but decided to pick it up anyway. He didn't have the strength enhancing properties of his hard suit to help so he had to heft it using muscle power alone. He grunted with effort to hold the heavy blade aloft with his good hand. It felt good. Probably better than it should have.

He waited for any strange sensations to tickle up his arm or invade his brain, but nothing happened. He held it for a few moments inspecting it's contours and balance before his arm's muscles demanded he put it down. "See? No harm done." He announced carefully placing it back on the bench.

"Just the same. I didn't want to have to put you down if you lost your mind again." She quipped.

He glanced down at her with a suspicious eyebrow raised.

"I mean… That is I wouldn't um… Keelah did it just get hot in here?"

"Alright miss Zorah. I think it's time you helped me back to my bed before I say or do something to earn a shot in the back."

She nodded mutely.

He laughed knowing she was probably too embarrassed to say anything else, but wanting to show that her good natured kidding hadn't caused any offense. The rest of the trip back up to the infirmary was passed in silence although once they had entered the med bay, and she was helping him back onto his gurney he couldn't resist just one more little jab.

"Remind me the next time we're planet side together to keep you at the front of the formation."

She nodded silently again before turning to leave. She stopped short just before the door to half turn. "Probably just so you can gawk at my legs without me noticing."

He smiled. "Guilty."


	8. Chapter 8

**TheDemo** : Thanks! That's the plan. Updates may be a tad slow, but that's specifically so I don't burnout and leave it behind. There's all sorts of fun ideas I have for the other two games so little by little we'll get there.

 **BulgarianBarbarian** & **Aftermath212** : Thank you! I've got all sorts of chestnuts just waiting for a chance to shine so hopefully I can make them last through the series. I like tapping into some of the humor of the series since a lot of the fics floating around are either cheesy epic romance or they're going for desert covered in sandpaper levels of grit. Or raunchy smut fests of course, but we don't talk about those. lol

 **Darkerego** : Thanks. I had another idea to add something different but the response I got in PM's to my little poll said folks preferred something like this. Opens up the opportunity for some fun twists later.

 **Random Useless Info** : I agree. Action is fun, but fluff is satisfying when done in moderation.

*SSV NORMANDY*

"Shepard this is Williams." The Gunnery Chief's voice crackled through his com.

Kraven jolted back awake after starting to doze. "Go ahead Ashley."

"We've got a visitor. Has the doc cleared you yet?"

He glanced over at Doctor Chakwas who was seated at her desk. She swiveled her chair slightly to glare at him out of the corner of her eye. "You should really stay another few hours until I'm sure you won't suffer any prolonged effects from your concussion."

"Not the first time someone's rang the bell Karen." He pointed out while carefully trying to maneuver himself to make a hasty exit if the diplomatic approach failed.

"That's precisely what worries me." She scoffed.

He set his feet on the floor. His world still felt like he was being swirled in a fish bowl, but he was confident he could compensate this time. "On my honor as an N7 candidate I promise to be on my best behavior, and take it easy."

She fully turned to face him. "To you taking it easy is getting into a fist fight in some pub."

He let out a short laugh as he remembered the last time he'd visited M'Connell's before being posted to the Normandy. Good times. "Granted, but I don't foresee any bars in our immediate future. Besides that if we follow up on this lead on Noveria we're going to be surrounded by mountains of snow. If the old brain bucket gets rattled again I can just stick my head in a drift for a few minutes."

He could tell he was cracking her resolve when the corner of her mouth lifted almost imperceptibly. At the very least it helped he didn't have to explain his idioms. "Very well Commander. But if you end up in here again I'm putting you on strict bed rest for a week."

He held up his hands in surrender as he almost drunkenly started for the door. Nothing like being grounded by the ship's medic. "Yes ma'am."

She shook her head and sighed as he left thinking something akin to what a protective mother would a wayward child. 'What am I going to do with that boy.'

He made his way to the elevator as he opened the com to Ashley again. "Just cleared but on probation. Still in the cargo bay?"

"Aye Skipper. We're offloading our gear."

"Roger that. Be down in oh…" He glanced at the non-existent watch on his wrist as he stepped into the lift despite no one being around to see the sarcastic gesture. "20 minutes."

She snickered. "You know you could put through a work order with the Alliance when we get back and retro fit the darn thing."

"And miss out on the HOURS of quality bonding time we have going between TWO floors? Get real Chief."

"Just a suggestion. Your boat your rules Skipper. Out."

After what almost felt like 20 minutes the car came to halt on the cargo deck. He gingerly stepped out being careful not to let any residual balance issues show. He saw Williams, Alenko, Vakarian, and Wrex all transferring their gear and salvaged tech from the shuttle to Ashley's bench. Off to one side stood a nervous looking Asari he didn't recognize. Next to her was his requisitions officer who was keeping a single hand on the grip of his holstered pistol. Every few seconds her eyes seemed to flick over to the artifact on the Gunnery Chief's work bench before returning to a spot on the floor.

He walked over as smoothly as he could manage. "So. How'd it go? Good haul?"

Garrus straightened from the crate he'd just deposited on the deck to walk over to the Commander. "Good would be an understatement. We managed to salvage an almost undamaged plasma cannon from an Armature. The boys back at C-Sec would be slobbering like Varren if I showed them a gun like this."

"Any chance we'll get to use it?"

The Turian shook his head. "I doubt we can jury rig anything to use as a firing platform, and it's definitely too much for anyone to hand carry."

"Speak for yourself." Wrex griped as he rumbled past to grab another crate of salvage.

Garrus ignored him. "Plus I'm sure you've noticed our Asari guest?"

Shepard nodded. "I did indeed. What's her story?"

Garrus' voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper. "That is the daughter of one Matriarch Benezia."

The significance of that revelation was not lost on the Commander. "Explains why you have her under guard. Your thoughts?"

"What's that expression you use. I'm on the fence? On paper I wouldn't trust her a single iota. Except we had to rescue her from a Krogan backed up by some of Saren's Geth."

Kraven openly appraised the jittery blue woman. "Well if she's deep cover she's either really good, or really bad at it. Regardless I want to keep an eye on her until we can figure out just what she's all about."

"Agreed."

"Well I suppose I'd better go introduce myself. Get the rest of this stuff unpacked then you four go grab some food and bunk time. We'll meet in the debriefing room in 6 hours to go over the mission."

"Sounds good Commander." Garrus gave a crisp salute then went back to helping unload their landing craft.

"Everyone else hear that?" Shepard asked as he headed over to greet the Asari. The other three nodded in response. He stepped up in front of the newcomer and crossed his arms. She visibly tried to avoid his eyes. Not a good start. "I'm Commander Shepard. Who might you be?"

He slowly extended his hand. She looked at it for several moments like she was watching a coiled cobra ready to strike. He considered retracting it but she eventually raised her own to take his. He felt a noticeable tremble emanating from her fingers. She was scared.

"Liara T'Soni." She timidly responded after their awkward handshake.

"Do you mind if I ask what you were doing here on Therum?"

Her eyes lifted to lock with his. He could tell she knew what he was doing. "I'm a Prothean expert that is part of an archeological expedition sent to help excavate the ruins here."

"Sent by whom?"

"The galactic historical council on Thessia."

"Find anything interesting?"

"Apart from the security grid your crew found me in I had not uncovered anything of significant importance."

He kept his face an impassive mask as he he continued his line of questioning. "Any idea why a Krogan mercenary working with Geth would want to kidnap you?"

Her eye twitched slightly. "No."

"It's a good thing my people got there when they did then. No telling what might have happened otherwise. Do you have any family? Anyone who'd be looking for you if you went missing?"

She hesitated for a few seconds before answering though her eyes never left his. "My mother."

"Ah. It is in the nature of a mother to worry. Have you heard from her recently?"

He could see the barest hint of color starting to darken her cheeks. "Not since she left to join the Spectre Saren Arterius."

He'd gone fishing, and landed a big one. Her blunt reply was exactly what he was looking for. Now to put it to bed. "And you're aware of what Saren's been up to?"

"I have heard that he has gone rogue attacking Human colonies, and that another Spectre has been sent to apprehend him."

"And if your mother was caught in the crossfire?"

"… She made her choice to help him. I cannot begrudge any consequences she might receive for her decision."

He relaxed his posture and offered his hand one more time. She tentatively took it and he shook warmly. "Then welcome aboard."

She didn't even begin to hide the shock displayed on her face at the sudden shift. "Um… Thank you."

He directed his attention to his requisitions officer for a moment. "We're good here Sorenson. I'm sure you have plenty of stuff to get posted on the extranet. Just let me know if you come across any big ticket items we might be able to use instead of selling."

"You bet Commander." The young man didn't waste any time cracking open one of the crates, and getting to work.

Shepard returned his gaze to Liara who's visage he now realized looked incredibly haggard, and gaunt. "Unfortunately for the time being you're going to need to stay with us until we can figure out what Saren wanted with you. There's a spare office behind the med bay we can set you up in for now."

"That is very kind of you Commander, but aren't you worried about my… Allegiances?"

"Don't get me wrong I still haven't made up my mind about you just yet. Still if you're thinking of trying anything funny, you've seen first hand what my team can do. If the threat of violence from one of them isn't enough to keep you honest then you can rest assured it would be a sweet mercy compared to what I'm capable of." He kept his tone light but made sure her situation was crystal clear.

"Understood Commander." She replied with a subtle gulp.

"Now it looks like you've been through hell in a hand basket. Get yourself up to the Medbay for a once over with the Doc then grab some chow and some sleep. It's up one floor in the lift then on the left. We're meeting in the briefing room in 6 hours which is on the command deck. If you need help figuring out where to go just ask one of the crew."

"Thank you Commander… Um you will have to forgive me, but what does that mean 'hell in a hand basket'?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Oh lord not another one.' He didn't voice his dismay. "It means you've been through a really rough time, and it shows."

"Oh…" She said thoughtfully. "I appreciate your concern but I can assure you I am going to be fine. Actually I would like the opportunity to look over the relic you have over there if…"

He raised his hand to forestall her request. "I wasn't asking. Get yourself checked out, grab a bite to eat, and get a few hours of sleep. Once we're done with the meeting at 1400, and if there's time before we get to Noveria then we can talk about letting you take a look. Deal?"

She looked ready to protest but in the end resigned herself not to push her temporary host. "Very well Commander Shepard. I suppose I will talk to you in a few hours."

He stepped aside and gestured toward the elevator. "Sweet dreams."

*SSV NORMANDY*

"So your using the mining laser started a cave in, then you had to fight through the Krogan Battlemaster to escape?" Shepard asked. Nearly 3 full days cooped up in the med bay had made him a little stir crazy. Even though he was unconscious for most of it. He was doing well at keeping a straight face but in reality he was absolutely jealous of missing out.

A fact that the normally placid, and reserved Kaidan was taking full advantage of. "Not only that, but there was molten sulfur pouring into the chamber from all sides. We almost didn't make it out before the whole place came down!"

"Wow. Sounds like a hell of a thing." He wanted to pester them for more details, but decided it was best to catch up with them individually later. He turned to a rather uncomfortable looking Liara. "Which brings us to you. How are you feeling?"

She sat ramrod straight. "I have explained as much as I can Commander."

"You've explained everything to me. However I was hoping you'd be up for sharing with the rest of the class."

She sat mutely staring at the floor.

He sighed inwardly. "How about you start with your name, and what you were up to in the ruins."  
She slowly started off introducing herself, and explaining some of her work at which point he interrupted her. "Oh that reminds me. Did you end up going back down to check out that relic?"

She nodded. "Yes. Your Ms. Williams was kind enough to let me look it over. I would need to do some in depth tests to gain a clearer picture of what it is and where it originated from, but I can say with complete certainty that it is Prothean."

Ashley, who looked none too thrilled with having had the Asari invading her work space didn't seem convinced. "What makes you say that?"

Liara seemed not to notice the Gunnery Chief's prickly tone. "There are several strings of glyphs running along the length of the blade. Some of it is badly damaged but I recognize them as a rather obscure dialect from the outer rim. It would take some time to translate, but I believe I can uncover a great deal with enough time to study it."

Shepard mulled this over for a moment. "Do you know how to fight?"

She recoiled slightly at the seemingly off topic, blunt question. "I am naturally biotic like all Asari, and have at times had to defend myself from aggressive wildlife with firearms."

"Perfect. Then I'll make you a deal."

Her face dropping spoke more than any of her overly polite words could.

He had to suppress a chuckle. "I'll have the sword moved up to your quarters so you can study it to your heart's content, but on one condition."

"What condition?"

"We need every edge, and resource we can gather to take down Saren. He seems particularly interested in Prothean tech so having an expert along who can shed some light on what he's looking for would be invaluable."

Not surprisingly Ashley was the first to voice a protest. "Hang on Skipper. How do we know we can trust her? She admitted herself that her own mother is in league with Saren!"

"I hear you Chief, but everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves based on their own merits. You of all people should understand that." He calmly countered without missing a beat.

The Gunnery Chief's mouth hung agape for a second before snapping shut while scarlet slowly crept up her neck.

He didn't like having to shut her down so hard like that, but her insistence on calling out every alien on the ship was starting to get old. He was new to working with different species himself which left a great deal of uncertainty. However he had been given no reason to doubt any of his companions yet so making knee jerk judgements about their motives based on biology wasn't acceptable. She'd shared with him the basis of where her mistrust stemmed from, and the events leading up to her family's disgrace which helped to give context to her perspective. Still he needed unity, and as long as this diverse collection of misfits had the same goals in mind he truthfully didn't care where they came from.

He resolved to set aside some time to hash things out with her later, and returned his attention to the meeting at hand. "So what do you say Liara? Can we count on you?"

The Asari seemed utterly dismayed. "What choice do I have? If I refuse I run the risk of being hunted again which would put me in just as much danger as going with you."

"It's not all bad. Just think of all the obscure locations you'll be able to study on our mission. I'd wager there's bound to be some juicy finds along the way." His face turned grim for a moment as he leaned in a bit closer, and softened his voice. "And there may be a chance we can catch up to your mother. See if rescue might be an option."

The corners of her eyes started to glint with building moisture. "You... You are serious?"

He shrugged. "It's a long shot. The recording we have doesn't paint a very pretty picture, but I haven't ruled out the possibility that she may be with Saren against her will."

Liara looked ready to hug him. Fortunately for all present she didn't. "Thank you Commander! Yes. I will accompany you on your mission."

He grinned. "Excellent. We'll get you all set up in the med bay's office once the meeting is done. Which brings me to the final point of business I have." He looked from Kaidan to Wrex. "Memory is bit fuzzy from the concussion so I'm not one hundred percent clear on what happened in the Thorian's chamber. Either of you care to give me the details?"

Garrus rubbed his taloned hands together expectantly. "Here it comes."

The Krogan and Human biotics exchanged looks before Wrex started to retell what he'd seen. "I was in the middle of showing the two of you whelps how a real soldier gets things done. I was so far ahead I decided to slow down to let you both catch up a little. Then I saw you going Pyjak shit swinging that toy around like a madman. Almost made me feel like you might really have the quad to stand toe to toe with the master, but once the Thorian went down you passed out like a Salarian with heat stroke."

Shepard nodded solemnly. "I see, I see. And what brought the Thorian down?"

Wrex immediately clamped his mouth shut and folded his arms across his chest.

Kaidan didn't seem thrilled with answering either, but a pointed stare from his superior officer broke down his resolve. "You did Commander."

Kraven didn't even try to hide the grimly satisfied smile. "You don't say."

"But you passed out, and needed a med evac." Wrex growled. "That means you lost by default."

"You're right. If I was unconscious when the contest was still going on then I lose fair and square." He glanced over at Tali and gave her a wink. She was glad he couldn't see her cheeks blushing. "So if either of you wracked up points after I was sawing logs then I concede."

He looked between the competitors expectantly. A growing sense of elation puffing up his chest when neither came forward. "None? Then is it safe to assume that I've come out as the victor of this particular contest?"

Wrex tried to object. "Big or not the shrub only counts as one."

Kaidan resignedly shook his head. "The Thorian was one point, but you saw as well as I did that all the Creepers who were left dropped dead at the same time. Technically all those points go to Shepard for cutting the strings."

"Teacher's pet." Wrex grumbled under his breath.

The Commander couldn't help grinning from ear to ear. Honestly he was prepared to accept a humble defeat, and likely would have if not for happening across the Prothean blade. Still he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Then the two of you will be referring to me as Sensei until our next trip to the Citadel. That still leaves who came in third though. On the count of three I want you both to say your total number of points at the same time. Understood?"

"Yes." They both said at once.

"Yes?" He trailed off.

"Yes Sensei." Kaidan corrected.

"Guh... Yes Sensei." Wrex spat like he tasted something disgusting.

"Much better. Alright. One... Two..."

"Commander." Joker's voice broke over the intercom.

"What is it Joker?"

"We're coming up on Noveria. I've got the Port Hanshan docking official on the line, but it looks like they're playing hard to get."

"I'll be up in a second Joker. Just have to take care of a little unfinished business." He glanced between the two expectant biotics. "Time to wrap this up. One... Two... Three!"


	9. Chapter 9

**ivandundalov7** : Much appreciated, and good to hear from you again. I don't honestly know how good I am with cliffies but I know they always hook me into whatever story I read so I figured a couple here, and there could be fun! :)

 **LeviathanN7** : Well I figure it's going to take me quite a while, but I had ideas lined up for all three games. I'm not exactly looking ahead to plan out where I'm going to stop, but given how invested I'm getting it seems like a shame not to take it all the way to the end.

 **TheOrangeRobo** : If that's the case you may enjoy a little tidbit toward the end of this one lol I agree. Paragon Sheps are awesome, but sometimes I just enjoy a bit of an antihero. Makes them seem more relate able for me I guess. More and more I find myself going middle of the road in my play-throughs just because there are so many funny renegade dialogue options!

*NOVERIA, PORT HANSHAN*

Commander Kraven M. Shepard always considered himself a reasonable individual. Granted he had a very quick temper, and generally despised needless delays when administering justice. Still he never let preconceived bias color his perceptions of anyone. Everyone got a chance to make an impression whether good or bad without his own perspectives dictating what he would think about them before hand. This was his own conclusion upon numerous occasions of self reflection. All of those conclusions swiftly blasted straight out the nearest window once he'd met Kaira Stirling.

Speaking to the woman was tantamount to rolling in razor blades before showering in lemon juice and scrubbing with a sandpaper luffa. Her completely abrasive personality was made all the more infuriating by the fact that she demanded he, and his team disarm. The nerve of her request just about caused him to snap and lose his shit on the entire security detail. Fortunately a quick intervention by a Ms. Gianna Parsini was enough to diffuse the situation. She had then granted his motley crew access to the port's inner sanctum.

Once inside his team had set about procuring a ride up the mountain to the Peak 15 research facility which, rumor had it, was currently occupied by a certain Asari's lunatic mother. This had been somewhat troubling news given that they had only just met Liara, but at the same time it afforded the Commander a rare opportunity. Either her mother, Matriarch Benezia, would be grateful for the timely rescue or she would attempt to punch all their tickets. Either way he stood to gain a great deal of insight regardless of how the scenario played out. That of course was contingent on the assumption that he, and his squad would actually be able to reach Peak 15.

His patience had been tested yet again after meeting the Salarian administrator of Port Hanshan; a Mr. Anoleis. He wouldn't have imagined that anyone would have been as unbelievably irritating to speak to as Kaira Stirling. He was mistaken. The pompous little toad had sniffed indignantly about being interrupted before outright insulting the Commander's intelligence multiple times. Kraven was seething by the time he'd exited the office which solicited muffled snickers from his crew. They knew his anger was a force to be feared, but not when it was squarely aimed at someone else. He took some comfort from their high spirits, but what really made him feel better was a mental image that kept playing through his mind. His hands pulling off Anoleis' stumpy little horns before punching Stirling's teeth straight down her ugly neck.

"Commander?" Tali asked as she noticed his wicked looking grin.

"Hmm? What's up Tali?"

"Did you think of something funny?"

His grin widened. "In a manner of speaking. Parsini said their might be someone at the bar that can give us a hand getting out of here. Care to join me?"

"I guess I don't have anything else going on." She answered mischievously.

He was taken somewhat off guard by her unusually buoyant response, but couldn't deny that it suited her. He smiled again. 'Ha. Suited her. Classic.'

Together they headed for the only watering hole in Hanshan while the rest of the specialist team milled about the terminal passing time until they got the green light to leave. The only one who seemed ill at ease was an extremely worried looking Liara. Her trepidation was of course expected, and understandable given the potential unpleasantness that might occur shortly. As the pair was stepping aboard the lift heading to the bar, Ashley quickly slid past the closing doors.

"Mind if I join you Skipper?" She didn't so much as nod in Tali's direction.

"More the merrier. Didn't have much luck chatting with the Hanar huh?" He was keenly aware of how their Quarian companion's body language closed once the Chief arrived, but wasn't in much of a position to ask about it without embarrassing her.

Ashley snorted in disgust. "I could barely understand what it was trying to say. I'm pretty sure it was trying to sell me something."

"This one thinks the Chief should keep an open mind." Shepard replied imitating the jellyfish's extremely precise, and polite tone as heard by their translators.

She shot him a glare of pretend venom. "Don't you start."

He turned to Tali. "This one appears to have struck a nerve. What does the esteemed Tali'Zorah nar Rayya think?"

Tali folded her shoulders across her chest, but couldn't mask the playful tone brightening her voice. "This one thinks the venerable Commander Shepard is entirely too good at imitating Hanar."

"Touché and likewise." He chuckled.

"Guh how long does this thing take?" Ashley griped, suddenly regretting trying to sneak a little 'almost alone' time with Shepard.

Once the lift ground to a stop Kraven had almost entirely forgotten his roiling anger. Almost. The trio waded through several knots of patrons busy chasing away the ever present chill with all manner of fire water. As they did Shepard caught sight of the man Parsini had mentioned. A lone Turian sat at his own table nursing some kind of greenish steaming liquid. Shepard unabashedly approached, and seated himself as though the two were good friends.

"Um... Is there something I can help you with?" The Turian inquired awkwardly.

Shepard leaned forward and placed his arm on the table. "Possibly. I was told that you may have a means to leave the port?"

"Ah. You must be the Spectre Commander Shepard. Lorik Qui'In. Synthetic Insights." The Turian introduced, and extended his taloned hand. "I do indeed have a garage pass, but there is an... Oh what was that delightful Human phrase? A fly in the lotion?"

To the Turian's surprise the Commander craned his neck to speak to his cohorts. "See? I'm not the only that does it." Both simply shook their heads as he returned his attention to Qui'In. "What's the trouble?"

"My garage pass is in my office in the Synthetic Insights suite. Unfortunately the entire wing has been shut down, and Anoleis' hired thugs are currently tearing it apart." Lorik explained.

"What are they looking for?"

"I have an OSD containing incriminating evidence of the Administrator's involvement in several fraudulent ventures. An OSD I would very much like to have in my possession again. Most of the enterprises operating here have been chafing under his corruption, but what I've uncovered would give them concrete proof that he's broken Noveria's number one rule."

Shepard raised a curious eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

Qui'In paused for dramatic effect. "He took their money."

Shepard seemed unimpressed by the revelation. "Well not to sound too self absorbed, but that sort of thing is a bit below my pay grade. I can't promise anything, but I'll keep an eye out for it just the same."

Qui'In nodded. "I'm sure the compensation me and my associates can offer as gratitude would make it worth your while."

Kraven extended his hand again. "Fair enough. I'll come find you once we're done."

"I look forward to it."

With that the Commander and his entourage of two headed for the bar's exit. On the way to Qui'In's office he considered informing the rest of his crew what they were doing, but in the end decided against it. His team was already causing quite a stir just by being present in the port. He didn't want to draw any more unwanted attention than was absolutely necessary. That, and the two women accompanying him seemed to have an affinity for holding down the back lines during combat. If things went pear shaped in the office he looked forward to seeing how they handled themselves with minimal back up.

As soon as the door whispered opened to admit the trio the sound of papers flying, OSD's cracking on the ground, and drawers slamming reached his ears. "Think we're too late to help with rennovations?" He snorted sarcastically.

A pair of fresh faced security officers turned the corner with guns drawn after hearing voices. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The Human woman barked.

"Hanshan security. We got a tip that there was a party going on up here so we're here to tell you damn kids to keep it down."

The woman seemed confused by the Commander's sarcasm. The Turian was not. "Funny. Get your asses out of here."

Shepard raised his hands in surrender. "Whoah now. We're not here to cause trouble. We're just lowly health and safety inspectors trying to keep everyone safe and cozy." Both officers raised their weapons. "Not buying it huh? Ok then how about this. I'm a Council Spectre who hates the snow and everything about this ice cube of a planet. I'm already having a bad day so if you even remotely value your lives you'll get out of my way, and pretend like we never met." His tone shifted from light hearted kidding to a menacing growl.

Both guards stood on the edge of indecision for several seconds before choosing discretion over valor. They stowed their weapons, and cautiously shuffled past to the exit.

"That worked pretty good." Tali observed.

"Better than just killing them." Ashley agreed.

Shepard slowly exhaled. "Honestly? I didn't think it would. It just made me feel like a bad ass to use the whole Spectre status thing."

Both women looked at him in stunned silence. He pretended not to notice. "Anyway let's get what we came here for, and see who else is in here."

As one the three moved further into the multi story office toward where noises of messy searching emanated. After climbing a set of stairs to the right they came face to face with exactly the person Shepard was hoping not to meet a second time.

"Ms. Stirling. What an absolute… Pleasure to see you again." He didn't hide the contempt that dripped from his words. "What are you doing in here?"

"I ought to ask you the same thing. I thought I made it clear there'd be trouble if you didn't clear out of Hanshan." She sneered as her cohorts sidled up beside her.

"Oh there's going to be trouble alright. Captain Matsuo know you're up here tearing apart a corporate office?"

"No , and that's the way it's going to stay."

Shepard crossed his arms with his right hand almost brushing the grip of his pistol. "If you expect me to just walk away then you're dumber than your stupid face looks. If you're threatening me then you're just a walking corpse and this conversation is already over."

She gritted her teeth. "Shut your mouth you piece of shit! You know what we did to cop killers where I come from?"

Kraven looked around in pretend bewilderment. "Cops? Where? I've only seen hired thugs that think they're hot shit, and are just about to find out they're not."

"That's it. Open fi…" She couldn't complete her last snarled order before the Commander's hand snatched the pistol from his hip, swung up, and sent a projectile flying. Pain didn't have time to register in Stirling's brain before a ball of hot death turned it into paste.

For several seconds the office erupted into chaos as her shocked compatriots recovered enough to start fighting back. Bullets sprayed in both directions as grenades went off, and Tali's drone zapped whoever was unfortunate enough to get in it's way. Through the uproar Shepard heard three shouted words that made his blood boil. "Go go go."

Ashley heard it too. "Crap. Shepard don't!"

"Kkeeeeeyyyaaaaa!" He couldn't contain himself as he vaulted over the desk he'd upended to take cover behind.

As he barreled forward toward the speaker a woman stepped out from behind a wall with her rifle leveled and shouted. "I will destroy you!"

He didn't deviate from his singular focus, but he did turn his head just enough to scream in her face and rocket a biotically assisted fist into her chest as he passed. Both Tali, and Ashley followed in his wake to put down the confused thugs so none could shoot him in the back. At last he made it to the bewildered man who had zero idea of what had sparked the suicidal charge. Without breaking stride, Kraven grabbed the man's collar with both hands and wrenched him close.

"There's no where to 'go', and they already knew we were fighting you son of a bitch!" He hollered before smashing his head into the man's nose. As the man crumpled Shepard whirled somewhat drunkenly looking for another poor schmuck to vent his irritation. Unfortunately his squad had done their jobs too well.

"Keelah Shepard. You're in a bit of a mood today." Tali giggled.

"Yeah you seem a bit more unhinged than usual Skipper." Ashley concurred.

He shook his head to clear it, but only succeeded in worsening the spinning. "I don't like being cold."

"Ha. Is there anything you DO like?" Ashley laughed.

"Meat, sunshine, warmth, women, kittens, and a cold beer. Not necessarily in that order." He snorted. He was starting to sway uneasily.

"Um… Are you ok?" Tali asked with a tinge of worry.

He tried to wave away her concern. "Peachy. Just forgot that nobody wins a head butt." He started to lose the battle with gravity.

Both Tali, and Ashley jumped forward to catch him. They both swung an arm over their shoulders to help keep him upright. "Should have thought of that before going full psycho and bashing someone's skull with your own. Didn't you just come off bed rest for a concussion?" Ashley reprimanded.

"I was caught up in the heat of the moment." He argued. "I just need to sit down for a couple minutes."

"I'm sure the doctor will understand. Tali I'll take care of him. You go find the pass, and OSD."

Tali'Zorah didn't move for an almost awkward amount of time, and looked like she wanted to say something. Before she could Shepard broke the growing tension. "Both of you go ahead. I'll wait here." Without waiting for permission he withdrew both of his arms and sank down to sit in the middle of the floor.

He though he caught slightly frosty glares both women gave each other before stretching out on his back to look up at the grey metal ceiling. As they both stalked off he wondered to himself what the heck that was all about.


	10. Chapter 10

**shipwreck321** : Thanks very much!

 **redcollecter** : You and me both. When he really goes bananas I almost picture something like the berserker from Fate Stay Night: Infinite Blade Works.

 **Aftermath212** : Caught that did you? lol Yeah whenever I have to talk to that lady I always find myself thinking. "Really? This is the most renegade conversation option I have?"

 **A/N:** Ok so you might be a little surprised at how quick this one came out. Honestly this is a chapter from a different story that I had written a while ago, but never finished. With a little reworking I think it fits pretty good with a certain part of the Noveria mission so I decided to toss it in here. Fair warning this is quite a bit more intense than usual so it doesn't really fit with the lighter tone of the story thus far, but I felt like a little variety and perspective shift would be fun. Can't just be about an angry, idiom spouting Commander all the time can it? Anyway enjoy.

*NOVERIA, PEAK 15 RESEARCH FACILITY*

For Professor Han Olar the day had started much the same as the hundreds before it. He had awoken early, and toured the facility's subject containment cells to confirm that no unexpected anomalies had taken place during the night. After his walk he had continued on to the mess for his usual breakfast of tasteless synthetic coffee and a protein bagel with strawberry cream cheese. After he finished he would have made his way to the lab to work on samples gathered from the previous day. Only today he had barely sat down at one of the long empty benches in the deserted mess when the lights started to flicker and sway while dust trickled down from the ceiling.

For a few moments he figured it was simply the environmental systems team bungling through another systems check. He brought his steaming cup of coffee to the port on his suit, but an even larger tremor rocking the subterranean research station caused him to second guess his assessment. It was at that moment a wild eyed security guard came bursting into the room and very nearly tripped over his own feet. The young man eventually lost his fight with gravity as another bone rattling quake thundered through the complex. Professor Olar swore and jumped up from his bench trying to keep the scalding hot brown liquid that had leapt from his cup onto his suit from reaching his skin. He angrily turned to the security guard who was already frantically scrabbling to his feet.

"What the hell is going on?"

The gangly youth who couldn't have been older than twenty didn't even turn to acknowledge the portly professor.

"It's coming! Run!"

"What's coming? What the blazes are you blathering about?"

Olar got no more information out of the guard who had taken off running toward the other end of the mess in sheer terror. "Idiot forgot his gun." Han huffed to himself as he stooped to pick up the frightened man's sidearm.

He keyed open the radio from his omni-tool and switched to the station's security channel as another tremor fluttered through the hardened concrete floor. "Chief Pollard? This is professor Olar. One of your new recruits just came tearing through here like a bat out of hell. What is going on up there and where are these quakes coming from? Over."

He waited several seconds for a reply but none came. "Security Chief Pollard. Do you copy? Over."

Again his query was met with silence. "Worthless Earth Clan." He growled into his respirator as he headed out of the mess toward the lift that would take him to the Security Chief's office a few levels above, and dropped the pistol he now carried into one of the oversized pockets of his suit.

More than once he nearly lost his footing as the floor beneath him periodically pitched in sympathy to the tremors that were continuing to intensify. "I bet it's those fools down in the power plant running some new sequence on the reactor. Those glorified electricians wouldn't know their assholes from a hole in the ground."

He swore again as another bone jarring vibration sent him sprawling against the bulkhead to his right. Weak pools of illumination glided around the interior of the cramped complex as the lights hanging overhead jumped and danced with every seismic jolt. The walls of hardened concrete, and reinforced palladium pinged as the foundations supporting them settled after each rattling tremor. Dust continued to trickle down from the ceiling in tiny streams that were briefly visible when a light played across them but just as quickly disappeared when the erratic illumination danced away. As the professor continued on toward the lift it became increasingly difficult to see where he was going. At first he had thought the lights were simply losing power, and even tried to wipe off his view ports but to no avail. Then he realized it wasn't the amount of light that was the problem. It was the thin veil of wispy smoke that was steadily drifting down from above.

His previous irritation at the interruption of his daily routine was now slowly being replaced by a steadily growing sense of trepidation. That feeling was only magnified when he turned a corner and found what looked like a war zone. He couldn't make out many details in the hazy gloom, but what he did see caused his blood to turn cold. Nearly a dozen security guards were sprawled in a bloody tangle along the corridor. Swinging lightbulbs provided fleeting glimpses of the bloody ruin in the unsettling smoky haze.

"Ugh…" The Volus had to work hard to keep what little was in his stomach from rising into his throat as he turned away from the grisly scene. After a few seconds of concentration he was able to exert control over his churning stomach once more and turned back to the carnage in his way.

"Chief Pollard! Dammit Chief answer me!" He called out over his radio again but with the same results. He tried several other frequencies to reach the other departments of the facility but static was the only reply.

It was now clear in his mind that he wasn't dealing with some run of the mill hiccup in the station's normal activities. They were under attack. From who, he had no guess. Binary Helix had no shortage of corporate enemies and if any one of them found out the kind of experimentation being done within his facility, he had no doubt they would come to put a violent stop to it. Still the gratuitous spectacle in front of him seemed out of place for what any of those enemies would have done if they were conducting an assault. As he slowly inched forward he could see that most of the bodies were no longer whole. A lucky few were only missing large chunks of flesh from their upper torso and head, while the others were missing entire limbs or were so mangled as to be rendered completely unrecognizable as Human. His heart started to pound in his chest as a chilling thought flashed through his brain.

"The subjects have escaped…" He breathed to himself in a constricted whisper.

He quickly picked his way through the remnants of the security detail, and mass of gore slicking the floor, being careful not to slip when more tremors shook the complex. Unfortunately he was fighting a losing battle and ended up pitching forward to land heavily on the crimson flooded floor. He let out a strangled scream as he came face to face with the horrified death mask of one of the guards decapitated heads. He didn't even notice the sticky scarlet liquid soak into his suit as he levered his rotund frame up onto his hands and knees to scramble forward, batting away the disembodied visage as he went. Eventually he made it out of the red swamp and back to untarnished concrete. He laboriously righted himself and bolted for the lift ahead, completely heedless of anything else around him. To his relief the lift door was already open and the car was empty. He frantically typed in the code for the level containing the security office with pudgy, blood stained fingers. After several failed attempts he finally forced himself to calm down, and enter the code correctly. The lift car lurched upward in fits and starts on a warped mag track.

The professor slowly regained his breath from running down the nightmare hallway and relaxed his thudding heartbeat. As the car slowly climbed skyward he took stock of his current situation. It seemed highly likely that the various test subjects housed in the complex had somehow escaped to wreak havoc on their jailers. It also seemed highly likely that he was the only one of the staff still alive and if by some slim chance there were still others they would need to fend for themselves. He knew the the big wigs would be livid at the loss of an entire facility due to faulty containment, but he would still rather escape and take his chances than stay trapped with what was loose in the complex. To that end he planned to make his hasty exit through the shuttle bay on the far side of the security office checkpoint and do his best to disappear after getting off world. Who knew, maybe he could even start a new life as some hyped up cosmetic surgeon for the galaxy's elite and live like a king surrounded by fabulous wealth and gorgeous women.

He had already started to plan how he was going to start his new life when the lift finally ground to a screeching halt at his destination. Thick oily smoke billowed into the elevator car as the doors cycled open, enveloping the professor in an almost impenetrable blanket. He hacked and coughed despite his air filters as the thick plume was sucked into his already burning lungs and threatened to overwhelm him. His eyes watered as he shuffled forward through the inky black shroud toward where his best guess of the security office should be. For several tense moments he feared becoming disoriented and slowly succumbing to smoke inhalation before he could find his way out. Just as he was beginning to consider that he'd become turned around he spotted the the tiniest flicker of orange light ahead. At first he was elated that he'd been going the right way, but his joy was short lived as it dawned on him what was producing the light.

He could feel the heat from the fires burning on the impassable wall of rubble left by the ceiling caving in as he neared. Snow was already starting to swirl in from above to mix with the noxious plume. With a heartfelt expletive he turned and headed back for the lift. It was a sizable setback but he wasn't without a plan B. Although that alternative meant he would have to again brave whatever stalked the lower levels in his bid for freedom. His vision swam and his head throbbed from the lack of clean air as he stumbled over the threshold of the lift. With great effort he cycled in the code for the lab department. The doors noisily slid shut in front of him although he couldn't see them and the elevator started it's journey back the way it had come.

Straining air circulation units worked hard to rid the lift compartment of the suffocating cloud that had accompanied the professor in from the hall. He crowded into the corner where barely filtered air was streaming in from a small slitted vent and took a deep breath of the delicious life giving oxygen that wafted through his filters. Even when the lift car had been mostly evacuated of the acrid plume he remained glued to the vent trying to suck in as much of the recycled air as he could while trying to settle his protesting stomach. He finally tore himself away from the vent when the doors of the elevator cycled open again. He was more grateful than he had ever been in his life that no smoke had reached this level of the bunker as he stepped out into the dimly lit corridor.

He hurried off on his way toward the far end of the labs and the tram that would take him away from the crumbling facility. He would still have to traverse the breadth of the lab sector without becoming another casualty himself, but once he reached the other side he would be home free.

With all the stealth he could muster, he trundled from shadow to shadow in his quest to traverse the labyrinth. As he did he felt the weight of the previously forgotten pistol still in his lab coat pocket bumping against his thigh. He reached in to scoop it out and relished the satisfying weight in his hand. He'd never trained with firearms and barely knew how to even use one except on the most basic level, but it still gave him a feeling of power to possess a weapon in his current situation. He fiddled with it for several moments before figuring out how to chamber the gun and turn off the safety. He clutched the handle tightly as he continued on his way. As he progressed he began to mentally congratulate himself for being able to stay cool under pressure and managing to be the only survivor out of a full research staff of almost one hundred and fifty. The tremors had even stopped. He started to feel almost confident as he brazenly pushed onward becoming less concerned with staying hidden. That was until he reached the containment wing.

His newfound confidence at having a weapon quickly evaporated as he imagined the horrors prowling through the darkened hallways on the other side of the door. For almost a minute he stood rooted to the spot staring at the hatch in front of him trying to muster the courage to continue on. His mind raced to find any other possibility of escape but in the end could not. He gripped his pistol with white knuckle intensity and finally convinced himself that whatever was loose was most likely on a completely different level. He had probably been as close to it as he would get when he waded through the gory mess left in the passage on the staff housing level.

He kept trying to convince his terrified brain that this was the case but his legs still refused to even shuffle forward. Then he heard the faintest whisper of some unknown body part sliding against metal behind him. The gun came up in an instant as he whirled around to point it's muzzle back the way he'd come. His eyes wildly searched for a target over the trembling sights of his pistol but couldn't see anything in the dimly lit gloom. He stood motionless for what seemed like an eternity but nothing came rushing out of the darkness to messily dismember him.

At long last he reached out with his free hand to cycle open the door and stepped through. He immediately closed and locked it behind himself. Just as the flickering display on the hatch shifted from emerald to vermilion something loudly impacted the other side. His mouth opened, but no sound escaped as he stumbled backward away from the hatch. His back butted up against a solid surface which halted his retreat. He stood in petrified terror as his eyes jerked from shadow to shadow. His pulse thundered in his ears and his stocky chest heaved with every adrenalin fueled breath.

He stood there in stupefied horror, gun still pointed at the door before eventually regaining his wits enough to start moving. He clutched at his chest trying to regain his composure and steady his breathing before doubling over and retching out a stream of bitter bile into his mask. His body convulsed several times before he could straighten and cycle his suit's disposal routines to get rid of the sick pooling in his helmet.

"Son of a bitch…" He shakily cursed to himself as he activated the flashlight function on his omni-tool and pointed it further down the corridor.

His legs felt like they were filled with ice water but through force of will he managed to get them moving. The blood in his veins stopped cold as he turned back to see the crimson display on the hatch in the distance flicker and wink out. Without another thought he turned and fled in sheer panic. Any thought to fight utterly overridden by the overwhelming need to escape.

He started to scream as sounds of his pursuer gaining on him reached his ears but he didn't dare look back. By no small amount of pure luck, and survival instinct, he tore around a corner and through the door leading to the tram. As he cleared the threshold he tripped over something and went tumbling to the floor. He continued to scream as he brought the gun and his flashlight up again and madly swept it around looking for his assailant.

His breath hitched in his chest as the meager light made played across another nightmare like what he'd seen in the staff housing passage earlier. The passage was painted from floor to ceiling in sticky red gore. Unrecognizable chunks of meat and pieces of bone were strewn about like bits of confetti. He tried to frantically right himself and flee but couldn't get any purchase on the blood slick concrete.

"Professor?"

His light immediately snapped to the source of the voice. "M… Morgan?" Morgan, one of his co-workers, was what he had tripped over. He could barely see at the edge of his light's circle of illumination that she was holding a makeshift tourniquet on her left thigh. It wasn't working very well as a river of scarlet still fountained from the deep gash further down her leg. "Morgan, we need to get out of here. One of them is right behind me!" He whispered frantically.

Her hollow looking visage tightened into a fearful grimace. "He… Help me up."

He rolled to his feet, and tried to yank her up heedless of the pain his action might be causing her. He could almost hear the telltale scratching of razor sharp claws sliding across the deck as he forcefully pushed her onward. 'Too slow. We're going too slow.' He thought frantically as she desperately limped along in front of him. They could hear a grating hiss joined by the breathy shrieks of several more baring down on them from behind. Sheer panic gripped his heart with ghostly fingers until he couldn't take it anymore. He roughly pushed the injured woman to the side, and fled as fast as his tiny legs could carry him. He heard her topple to the deck, but didn't turn to look.

In seconds he reached the tram, and bolted inside. Without so much as a backward glance to see where Morgan was, he hit the switch that would cycle close the grab train's doors. His lungs ached, and his heart pounded like a jackhammer as he tried to regain his wind. That abruptly ceased as he sucked in a terrified gasp when Morgan's blood spattered hand slapped the window.

"Olar, open the door!"

He didn't move.

She pounded the glass. "Han! Hurry they're almost here! Open it now!"

Again he stood in stupefied horror, completely unwilling and unable to move.

Her voice cracked into a deathly shriek. "Han please! I…"

Her last word was cut short as a spear like appendage rocketed through her skull and out the other side to split asunder like a ripe melon. As her lifeless corpse sagged to the floor the Volus sat utterly silent staring at the crimson smear on the tram's window.


	11. Chapter 11

**ivandundalov7** : Thank you! Hope you enjoyed the little bit of variety. I'm glad you're enjoying so many. That gives me a good benchmark to try to top each time I post another one! As far as the name goes I can honestly say I don't remember where I'd heard it. I'm 99% sure it was from a movie, but for the life of me can't remember which one. I toyed around with some others but ended up at Kraven since it was unique but not difficult to read or spell.

 **BulgarianBarbarian** : As the great Wallace Shawn said in Princess Bride. "You'd like to think that wouldn't you!" I've got a whole bag of these just waiting for their time to shine. I added a little easter egg of an idiom in this chapter that's from the game, but it's a little obscure on where to hear it. Let me know if you figure out which one it is!

*NOVERIA, PEAK 15 RESEARCH FACILITY*

Shepard stood awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, and desperately looking to his squad mates for some sort of hint at what to say. "Wow… Um… That sounds really… Terrifying."

The Volus merely peered up at him with his expressionless mask.

The Commander stood staring back for a moment before finally gesturing toward the lift they had just come down. "Right… Well I'm sorry for everything you've gone through Han, but we're on the clock sooo… I should go." He motioned to his team with a slight jerk of his chin.

Just as the group was filing past, Han Olar spoke up again. "They came from back there."

The Commander looked to the ceiling and prayed the Volus wasn't going to tell another uplifting story like the last one. He was already so frazzled by the cold, and creepy crawlies popping out of every possible shadow, even being angry wasn't really fun anymore. "Who?"

"The Geth."

Kraven looked in the direction Han was pointing. "They came from the access tunnel? Did that Asari professor come with them?"

"Yes." The portly alien wheezed as he took a breath from his respirator. "We thought it had collapsed, but they must have cleared enough away to get through from the hot labs."

That perked up the Commander's interest. Much better than heading back upstairs to try to argue with Captain Baldy about gaining access. "Much obliged. For what it's worth not many people could have endured what you did without going crazy."

Han hung his head. "Oh I'm sane. God am I sane."

Once again Shepard felt extremely awkward. Rather than attempting to jam his foot any further into his own mouth he decided to get moving while he had the chance. The ground team hastened through the portal at the back of the testing labs and into the snow packed service tunnel beyond. Once again he was greeted by what they had learned was a Rachni. An ancient species of intelligent insectoids that had very nearly brought the entire galaxy to it's knees. Only a Krogan intervention orchestrated by the Salarians had been enough to push them back until it was thought that not a single one remained. A belief that was now thoroughly debunked.

He couldn't help the mild grimace of distaste that warped his features upon seeing the creature. To him they were bugs. Really big ones. He had always made it clear to anyone he worked with how anything that shuffled, slithered, or skittered was squarely on the 'not with a 10 foot pole' category. Yet somehow he had barely even started his hunt for Saren, and had already encountered enough nightmare fuel to last him for months between her and Feros.

'Can only get better from here.' He tried to convince himself while pumping an extra couple rounds into the giant cockroach's twitching corpse. It's legs kept moving which only served to provide yet another image he was never going to be able to unsee. As they continued on to the hot labs he resolved that in order to shrug off the discomfort of the current mission, he would set aside some time to indulge in his guilty pleasure. 'I'm not made of stone after all.' He reasoned.

At last they came upon the final door separating them from where presumably Liara's mother waited. His heartening thoughts of quality relaxing time evaporated in a puff of smoke as all eyes turned on their Asari companion.

He slung his firearm and placed both hands on her shoulders so she was forced to look him in the eye. "Regardless of what happens in there, we're here to back you up. Whatever you need." They didn't really know each other, but he hoped she would appreciate the gesture nonetheless.

Her response was to maintain his gaze while taking a fortifying breath, before pursing her lips and nodding that she was ready. He gave her shoulders a quick squeeze before turning back to the door. As he did he caught Garrus' eye, and hoped the expression he made was enough to convey that the Turian should watch her. Garrus' subtle nod in return told the Commander he'd understood.

Kraven trusted Liara, but he knew that people tended to do crazy things when faced with a situation as complicated as this one. The safety of his team always had to come first even if the truth might hurt someone's feelings. He took a deep breath himself to steel his own resolve before toggling the door open.

In an instant his squad filed through like a partially oiled machine before fanning out to cover the myriad of gangways surrounding their position. 'We're going to need to practice this a bit more before we catch up with Saren.' He thought to himself quickly before seeing their target on an elevated platform on top of a set of stairs. His shotgun came up, but he kept his finger off the trigger as the ebony clad woman slowly turned to regard them.

"So we meet at last Commander Shepard. I have heard a great many things about you." Benezia said in a silken voice as she stepped to the top of the stairs.

"None of them good I hope." Shepard responded somewhat snarkily.

She ignored his attempt at humor. "Indeed. I should warn you I will show no sympathy regardless of who you bring with you."

"You mean Liara? She's here because she wanted to be."

Benezia clasped her hands behind her back. "I see. And what have you told them about me Liara?"

"What could I say? You are not who I remember you to be mother. Please stop this while you still have the chance!" The young Asari pleaded as moisture pooled at the corners of her eyes.

The Matriarch shook her head and clucked her tongue in disappointment. "You still behave like a naive, spoiled child…" Azure fire began to dance around her body. "I should have been more strict with you."

The Commander's own corona flared. "You only get one chance to walk away from this. Don't do something you'll regret."

Her eyes flared with rage. "Insolent whelp I…" Suddenly her head jerked to the side. The cobalt glow surrounding her sputtered and died. Her mouth moved but no sound came out as she continued to convulse. She grimaced in agony as her hands flew to her face. She doubled over which prompted Liara to start forward, but Shepard held out his arm to stop her.

"Wait." He said flatly before returning his hand to his weapon.

After a strained silence that seemed to stretch on forever Benezia finally lowered her hands, and stood. Her face lacked any of the malice it had displayed only moments before. "L… Liara?"

"Mother?"

Her eyes seemed to glaze over before screwing shut as if in pain. "I do not have much time. I can fight his influence for a few seconds before he swallows me up entirely."

Kraven looked to his squad, but all seemed equally as dumbfounded as he was. "What do you mean, fight who?"

Benezia started to sway but caught herself on a nearby guard rail. "Saren. Or his ship, Sovereign. It alters your mind. Invades your thoughts until you lose control of yourself. I have managed to hide away a portion of my consciousness from his sight, but it will not be long until my barriers are overrun again." She raised a trembling finger to point at the holding cell she'd been standing in front of. "The Rachni queen. Saren needed the location of a relay that could transport him to the conduit. He used me to tear it from her mind."

Shepard was still completely lost, but decided it would be best to play along. He would worry about what was in the cell later. "Which relay? Where is he going?" He started forward to help her.

Her hand shot out to stop him. "No! I cannot hold on much longer. I made an OSD with the location to the Mu relay in case I was able to break free. Take it and use it to stop him." Her eyes started to cloud over with what looked like black ink as biotic fire flickered around her. "I cannot fight it any longer. Please Commander… You must…"

He didn't know what was going on, but knew what she was saying. Liara apparently knew it too. "Mother no! Please we can help you!"

Benezia managed a grim smile as her eyes turned a glossy obsidian. "Goodbye little wing. I will see you again before the dawn." As the last word gently pushed past her lips she threw her head back, and screamed in sheer agony. The nails of her fingers dug deep gouges into her cobalt skinned face while an enormous blaze of blue swirled about her.

Shepard didn't need any further invitation. His gut told him exactly what was about to happen, and as much as he enjoyed a good fight, he knew if he waited some of his people wouldn't be walking away. Possibly even himself. "OPEN FIRE!"

"NO!" Liara shrieked at the top of her lungs, but was completely drowned out by the booming reports of six firearms belching streams of slugs into the tortured woman.

For several seconds the lethal projectiles were turned aside by an impossibly strong biotic barrier before finally blasting through. Benezia jerked from multiple impacts just as the ground team's weapons started to overheat. In an instant the terrifying blaze roaring around the Matriarch was extinguished, and she fell to the deck as rivers of blood poured from dozens of bullet wounds.

As she crumpled Liara pushed past the Commander to run to her mother. "Hold fire!" He commanded although everyone had already done so. As Liara gingerly cradled her dead mother's head in her lap Shepard turned to his crew. "Give her a bit. She doesn't need us sitting here watching this. See if you can find that OSD."

No one needed to be told twice as they all started to fan out in search of the tiny data storage device. There was no amiable chatter as was becoming usual when the team was searching for salvage. Just the spirit sapping sound of their newest team member crying over the corpse of her mother. Within only a few short minutes every corner of the chamber had been searched without much success.

"C… Commander." Liara called through the lump in her throat.

He made his way up the stairs, and knelt beside her. He didn't say a word. Just laid his hand on her shoulder and hoped she would forgive him for doing what he had to do. He'd never been good with the soft stuff.

Fortunately she was exceedingly graceful in accepting his condolences. "Here *sniff* she dropped it on the floor when she was speaking to us *sniff*." She handed the OSD to him.

He clasped the disk, and her hand in both of his. "Thank you Liara. I'm sorry."

"I know." Was all she could manage.

He stayed there with her for a minute before eventually straightening to walk over, and look at the Rachni Queen that resided in the holding cell. He knew it could see him when it shifted to get a better look at the Human standing outside of it's glass prison. An uncomfortable shiver ran up his spine as he locked eyes with the gargantuan insect.

"We're going to need a bigger boot." He mumbled mostly to himself. Knowing the oddballs he ran with, no one would have gotten the reference if they'd heard it anyway.

"Silence."

He practically jumped out of his skin and whirled about with his gun pointed at the source of the ghostly whisper.

"Mother?" Liara asked with barely a squeak.

Benezia's eyes were open but stared off into space. "We hear… Silence."

"This is seriously starting to damage my calm." Wrex growled with his own snub nosed shotgun aimed squarely at the Matriarch's forehead.

"What is this?" Shepard questioned.

"It… It might be her." Tali ventured looking over at the caged Queen. "I've heard Rachni can speak through dead or dying members of other species."

"Goddess…" Liara covered her mouth with her hand before Garrus stooped to help her up.

For a moment she resisted. "She's gone. This is just an empty shell now." The Turian reassured as she reluctantly stood before allowing herself to be escorted down the stairs, and away. This was already likely to irrevocably scar her psyche so no need to make it worse than it had to be.

Once she had moved far enough away so as not to overhear the Commander responded. "Are you using this Asari to speak?"

"Yes." The whispering voice was creepy already, but was made almost intolerable by the fact that each syllable was accompanied by a gurgling hiss as air sputtered out of the holes in Benezia's chest.

Shepard did his best to tuck his discomfort somewhere private. "How are you controlling her?"

"As the songs of others fade we can pluck the strings. This one's song is soft yet it wreaks of the machine's sour yellow note. It is bittersweet."

"Machine's yellow note? What does that mean."

"Her song was not her own. The maddening shriek of the machines had almost completely consumed her."

"Well at least she's free of it now, but that still leaves me with one loose end. What do I do with you?"

Kaidan came up beside him to point at the corners of the holding cell. "You see those tanks? Acid. Must have been a safety measure in case she ever tried to get out."

"Correct. We were always meant to live in these low places until we were no longer useful. What will you sing? Will you release us or end our song forever?" The ghostly voice asked emotionlessly.

Ashley immediately threw in her two cents. "Ghost it Commander. The last thing this galaxy needs is a resurgence of Rachni."

"Hold on. The Rachni were thought to be completely wiped out. Can you really kill an entire race?" Tali objected.

Shepard wrestled with the implications, but in the end knew what that his gut had already made up it's mind. He never argued with his gut. "You're both right…" He said as he reached out to the console. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look and stabbed the button that would release the acid.

Only his aim was off. His eyes flew open when he heard heavy machinery whirring to carry the cell up into alignment with a release port. The enormous insect looked back in what might have been interpreted as a wave of gratitude if one knew bug body language before disappearing into the open shaft.

This left a flabbergasted Shepard standing in sheer terror at what had just happened. 'Oh shit…' was the first thing that ran through his brain. Followed closely by 'Who the hell puts the kill it with acid button next to the fly free little bird button?'. This in turn was followed by 'I'm going to find that bastard and pull his ass out through his nose.'

"Well… I guess what's done is done." Ashley grumbled. "Hope you know what you're doing Skipper."

"You and me both." He said without turning around. No one needed to see the color draining from his face.

As the group delicately gathered up the Matriarch's body Tali stepped up behind him to offer her encouragement. "I think you did the right thing Commander. Although I think a couple of the others might disagree with you."

"Y… Yeah. I just couldn't condemn a whole species to extinction you know? Hopefully they don't hold it against me." He tried to play it off but still refused to turn around.

"I'm happy you feel that way. And don't worry about the others. There was a Human saying… Keelah what was it? Keep a stiff one in the lips?"

'Godamnit!' He mentally screamed. 'Of all the bloody times…' He valiantly fought to keep his tone even. "A stiff upper lip I think you mean."

"Oh right. What did I say?"

"You said… Never mind. It's not important." A little piece of him died at letting the moment pass without even remotely calling attention to it. This was shaping up to be one of the worst days in Kraven M. Shepard's life.


	12. Chapter 12

**PrimeHoarder** : Much appreciated! I'm a slow reader so that's actually pretty impressive to me lol

 **BulgarianBarbarian** : That was a reference? Dang. I thought I was just being clever. I'll have to watch that video lol

 **darkerego** : Thanks, and happy to oblige. Plenty more where this came from.

 **Aftermath212** : I was afraid it was going to be too jarring a transition, but isn't that how real life usually works? He's going to have to bust out his reading glasses next time to make sure he's hitting the right one ;)

 **GrandTraverse** : Thanks very much! I'm aiming for something somewhere in the middle. Paragon is great because the character feels like an epic hero, but is hard to write them with much humor sometimes. Renegade lends itself to easily being able to be irreverent and funny, but can make your character a complete asshole if you're not careful. I like momma bear style so I can have the best of both!

 **Revolt32** : Thank you!

 **Guest** : Ding ding ding! Exactly right. It's during the undercover party mission at the Silver Coast Casino in the Citadel DLC when you're required to mingle. Two ditzy Asari near the entrance. If anyone hasn't heard it I suggest trying to find them on your next play through. Had me in stitches the first time I talked to them :D

*SSV NORMANDY*

It had been several weeks since leaving the ice cube, Noveria, behind along with it's newfound infestation of gargantuan bugs. The hunt for Saren had stagnated as the Commander's prey had become surprisingly elusive. Days had gone by without so much as a hint pointing to where the rogue Turian could be lurking, or what he might be doing while conducting said lurking. Garrus had put out feelers with some of his C-Sec contacts while Wrex had reached out to a few mercenary pals he had ran with back in his younger days. Neither met with any success.

In a bid to curb the looming threat of cabin fever, Kraven had been hard at work delving into the friendships he was forming with the people under his command. In essence he was curious to discover what made each of them tick, and one could only spend so much time secretly building model ships in his own quarters before someone became suspicious. Thankfully no one had scrutinized the invoice submitted by Alliance Requisitions after their most recent detour to the Citadel. A detour Wrex had lobbied particularly heavily for since calling anyone Sensei, much less a frail Human, was beginning to chafe.

Once the Normandy had again set sail to search the empty void, Kraven had begun making his rounds. After only a week he was surprised at how well he'd fit into a steady routine. First thing in the morning he would head up to the CIC to chat with Navigator Pressley. He had initially been put off by the man's distaste for aliens, but couldn't begrudge him that. The First Contact war was an unpleasant business so it only stood to reason that there would still be some scars on both sides. Fortunately after taking the time to speak with the older man, Shepard had come to appreciate his no-nonsense bluntness, and valued his opinions.

Once he'd checked in with the rest of the navigations, systems, and weapons specialists scattered around the command deck he would make his way to the helm to shoot the breeze with Joker. He had noticed that his pilot seemed particularly prickly, and defensive anytime the subject of conversation drifted to his illness. Shepard had nipped that in the bud completely by accident when he spoke about what had happened to him on Mindoir, and later on Akuze. Turned out that realizing nobody had a monopoly on hard times was exactly what Joker needed to get over the chip he'd been carrying on his shoulder.

After leaving the helm Kraven would then head down to the crew deck one level below. Most of the time he'd bump into Kaidan who seemed very attached to a single spot near the sleeper pods. When asked about why he never seemed to venture through the rest of he ship he'd replied. "Where else would I go?" He always had plenty of sage advice, and impassioned opinions to keep conversation going, but Shepard couldn't help but laugh when he pictured what a crazy night out would look like for the Lt. How many towns had that man painted beige?

Next he would carefully tip toe through the med bay trying not to incur the wrath of their resident medic who never seemed to run out of angry things to say. He'd tried to explain that he was just caught up in the heat of the moment, and that he would never head butt anyone again, but that only seemed to make her angrier. He couldn't remember his mother very well, but he was sure she and the good doctor were cut from the same cloth.

Upon navigating the doctor's minefield he would let himself into the office behind the med bay where Liara spent most of her time. Upon leaving Noveria she had thrown herself wholeheartedly into researching the artifact he'd found on Feros. They had moved it up to her quarters so she didn't have to constantly run back and forth to the cargo bay to study it. Several times he found himself hovering just over her shoulder for hours to catch a glimpse at what she was doing. He had a particular fascination with implements of war, and knowing the one he'd found was probably the only one of it's kind got his cranial juices flowing. Unfortunately the young Asari had taken his keen interest in the sword for something somewhat different. He was still trying to figure out how to explain his curiosity was strictly professional without hurting her feelings. He wasn't very good at that sort of thing.

His next stop was always the mess to grab some kind of snack or another. He never told anyone, but one of his greatest fears was dying of hunger or thirst while waiting for the lift to cycle between floors. He figured if he took sustenance with him his only worry would be dying from old age instead of starvation. Once he made it to the cargo hold he usually found Wrex first. The two would swap interesting stories in a never ending bid to lord it over one another, and share whatever morsels the Commander had brought for his journey down the elevator.

It usually didn't take long for Ashley to be drawn to the ruckus from her work bench, and join in on the banter. This of course would pique Garrus' interest so all four would invariably end up in good natured pissing contests. Each time they did Shepard learned just a little bit more about each. Wrex was tough as nails, and knew when to let things slide or when to pick a fight. His display of confidence wasn't without merit, but appeared to be a very convincing veneer masking a measure of anxiety. Specifically anxiety that revolved around the deteriorating state of his people. He would never openly admit to worrying about anyone besides himself, but the hints of his concern were there if one knew how to read them.

Ashley's blood ran true blue Alliance all the way, and it showed in her every action and word. Her commitment to the military was only second to her loyalty to her family. Funnily enough he had experienced that family bond one morning when he had been making his rounds, and happened to overhear her talking to her sister over the FTL com. His ears started burning, and so did the skin on the back of his neck when he heard his name strung together with the word cute. He had swiftly turned in an attempt to flee, but a greeting from the Chief had stopped his retreat cold. The awkward conversation that followed wasn't altogether unpleasant, but it did serve to prominently reveal a certain type of affection Ashley was harboring for him. Once again he was flattered, but not terribly interested. Mostly because if things ever went pear shaped with their relationship he assumed there wouldn't be enough of him left to fill a coffee cup. Yet again he was stuck in the uncomfortable position of not being able to reciprocate certain feelings, but didn't know how to explain it without causing offense.

While things were somewhat complicated with the Chief, his talks with Garrus were a great deal more simple. He liked the Turian, and already considered him to be a good friend. Especially after hearing about his struggles rising through C-Sec. They shared similar views on the ugly necessity of the Spectres, and that someone needed to exist that could take on the messy jobs a regular governmental agency couldn't. They also agreed that such freedom was a dangerous privilege that was too easily abused. Regardless he liked Garrus because it seemed the Turian had almost an exact match to his own sense of justice. He was also a crack shot with a sniper rifle, had a refreshingly short temper, and understood more of the Commander's references and idioms than any of the other aliens. That alone earned him boat loads of brownie points although having someone to be angry with was a definite plus too.

Finally after bidding his Turian buddy adieu, Kraven would make his way down into engineering to greet his engineering staff. In particular the Quarian Tali'Zorah. For some time it had been exceedingly difficult to get her to talk about anything at all, but that had swiftly started to change once she became more acclimatized to the ship's rhythm. Especially after their chat regarding the Feros artifact she'd seemed a great deal more eager to share her thoughts and feelings with him. He'd been taken aback by just how much she had to say, and she wasn't lacking for things to talk about. He certainly wasn't complaining as her perky disposition, and flowing accent were like music to his ears. More than once he'd gone completely off into la la land just listening to the cadence of her voice before she scolded him for not really listening. When she asked him what had taken his attention he had joked that he was imagining what he would look like with legs that bent like hers. She'd come back with a single word "weird". He agreed before adding in a low mumble that he would just have to make due with staring at hers. She seemed exceptionally cheerful after that.

And so days went by with the Commander gradually peeling back the layers of his team to learn what type of people they were deep down. He was satisfied with what he'd found. Satisfied enough that when Garrus had asked him for help in bringing a black market organ harvester to justice, he'd gladly agreed to lend a hand. Wrex had also made reference to a personal matter that he would begrudgingly accept assistance with should their primary target remain elusive. The Commander had also agreed to chip in where he could.

It was on one such mission, Garrus' organ harvester, that the Commander currently found himself. Given that they were only there for a morally bankrupt doctor, Kraven had decided the two of them would be sufficient to handle it. As they wound their way through the shadowy confines of the small ship an unsettling chill ran up his spine. The smell of fresh blood, antiseptic, and the unmistakable aroma of death hung heavy in the air.

Not long after venturing into the bowels of the vessel a drug addled Turian had appeared from out of the dimly lit gloom. They had attempted to communicate with him, but the hapless man seemed to no longer be in control of his faculties. He let out a croaking groan before lurching forward with a rusty scalpel in one hand. Garrus ended up putting him down with a concussive round from his rifle. Upon closer inspection of the body, they found a spiderweb lattice of fresh incisions covering the unfortunate Turian's body. He was one of the walking test tubes.

"You know. Just about every time I go out on a mission, and see something horrible I say to myself. 'Yep. That's pretty much the worst thing I've ever seen.' I wonder what I'll end up having to see before I can't say that anymore."

Garrus wrinkled his brow. "Not a very cheerful thought."

"Nothing a few drinks, and a good fight can't solve."

"That's your answer for everything." Garrus snorted.

Shepard shrugged as they both headed deeper into the nightmare ship. "Everyone needs a few ways to decompress. That just happens to be one of my favorites."

"Can't argue with that."

"So what does a C-Sec officer do to unwind at the end of the day?"

Garrus' mandibles twitched in his species approximation of a smile. "Scoping mercs is always fun."

Kraven shook his head. "Doesn't count, that's technically still work."

The Turian had to ponder for a while. "Well, I guess... Oh hold it." He brought up his rifle to train the crosshairs on a silhouette that had appeared further up the corridor and was menacingly shuffling toward them. "Hey there. Are you ok? Do you know where you are?"

Once again all they received as a response was an unintelligible gurgling. The person appeared to be either a Human woman or an Asari, but was obviously carrying something neither Shepard or Vakarian wanted a closer look at. A single shot from Garrus' gun was sufficient to put her down before she got close enough to use it.

"Where was I? Oh that's right. Um... There was only one thing I can think that I've ever done to relieve stress, and it wasn't exactly an every day occurrence." He picked up right where he'd left off without skipping a beat.

Shepard appreciated his companion's cool demeanor. One thing that always drove him bananas was having to share the trenches with some high strung nut job. "Not going to sugar coat it Vakarian. That's pretty sad. No wonder Joker thinks you got a stick shoved where the sun don't shine."

"I don't know what that means, but what can I say? Work was it's own fun."

"And when work pissed you off so much you were ready to bite someone's head off?"

The Turian raised a dubious eyebrow. "What kind of place did you grow up in?"

Shepard sighed. "Oh for the love of... Not literally it's just another idi... Never mind. What did you do when Palin stonewalled your investigation of Saren? You seemed pretty hacked off so what did you do to dissipate that stress?"

Again Garrus silently contemplated. "I went back to my desk, and fished for connections until I pulled up Dr. Michelle. Then I went to find her."

Kraven stopped and stared in disbelief. "Holy crap... You don't know how to have fun!"

"That's not true. Like this. This is fun."

Shepard clucked his tongue in disappointment. "It is, but not the kind I'm talking about. As your bro I'm officially accepting the assignment to help you pull that stick out of your ass, and beat your current idea of relaxation to death with it."

Garrus chuckled. "If you say so. You are the ranking officer after all. I have to ask though, are all N7's so intense?"

The Commander puffed out his chest. "Just me baby. Just me."

At last they came upon a sealed door that barred their way to the last compartment they hadn't yet checked. Shepard looked to his squad mate. "Shall we see what's behind door number 3?"

"You can do the honors."

Kraven pulled up a lockbreaking function on his omni tool that Tali had designed for them, and set it to work cracking the door's code. After nearly a minute of working the door's console pulsed from red to an inviting green. "Let's see if the doctor's in." He pushed the button that whisked the portal open.

A surprised looking Salarian stood just on the other side. Shepard was instantly aware that he had a weapon stowed on his back. "Sorry to barge in like this. My friend here has a rash the size of Palaven. Think you can help us out?"

The Salarian's thin face contorted into a confused look. "What? Who are you, what are you doing here?"

Shepard took a step inside the chamber with his hand instinctively rising to find the handle of his Prothean sword magnetically sheathed at his back. "We were in the neighborhood." He canted his head to look at Garrus but keep one eye on the Salarian. "This the guy Garrus?"

The Turian nodded. "That's him. Dr. Saleon."

"N... No. My name is Heart. Dr. Heart." The doctor's already high pitched voice rose almost a full octave. "Please you have to help me. The entire crew of this ship went insane trying to kill each other, and me. You have to get me out of here."

Garrus brought up his rifle. "I don't think so doctor. Your days of butchering unsuspecting patients are over. I'd harvest your organs to pay them back, but I'm afraid we just don't have the time."

Saleon recoiled in horror as he started to backpedal. "Y... You're crazy. Get away from me!"

He started to grab for the gun at his back but didn't manage to bring it around before the Commander bolted forward wreathed in a biotic inferno. The blade of his sword whipped through the air accompanied by a lethal hum. The doctor didn't even have a chance to scream as the blade bit into his flesh and discharged a blast of dark energy that vaporized him in an instant. Tattered scraps of clothing fluttering through a cloud of blood mist was the only thing left to mark his passing.

The Commander's corona flared brightly in sympathy with a menacing glow intensifying along the length of his sword. He looked around expectantly for another target, but unfortunately found none. "Damn." He muttered letting his biotic amps cycle off. Strangely it took a good deal longer for his neural network to respond to his commands, and he noted that as soon as the flow of dark energy stopped the glow in the sword also dissipated. He was additionally aware that while receiving biotic energy it became much lighter, but quickly regained it's considerable weight when the flow was staunched.

"That thing packs quite a punch." Garrus observed as the Commander once again stowed his weapon.

"Sure does." Kraven agreed. "Makes me wish there was more to try it out on."

"Probably for the best to keep it to small tests for now anyway. No telling what it was that sent you off the deep end on Feros. Plus I don't exactly relish being stuck in a tight space with you if it happens again."

Shepard grinned. "I suppose I can't fault you for that. Still whatever it was I can't say I'm completely opposed to doing it again. Assuming this time I can remember it."

"I'll make sure to keep Dr. Chakwas on high alert then."

They both laughed before heading back the way they'd come through blood stained corridors feeling proud of a job well done.


	13. Chapter 13

**shipwreck321:** Let's hope it stays that way :)

 **Aftermath212:** Awesome reference to ME 2 there :D Hadn't even considered how much of a nerd Joker must be lol Either way it's stuck up there pretty far so we'll have to think of something extra fun! Thank you and definitely!

 **BulgarianBarbarian:** Thanks! Been thinking about that a bit myself, and trying to work out how a conversation between an ageless death machine and a grumpy space pirate would go. Gonna be interesting is all I'll say.

 **The-White-Spiral:** Aww shucks. You all definitely know how to make a guy blush lol Glad you're enjoying it!

 **Guest:** It's an obscure reference for sure so I'm happy to know it made an impact! Honestly that dlc was one of my most favorite parts of the entire trilogy. I loved the interactions between characters you might never see even talk to each other on the Normandy. Not to mention the humor was totally on point. I want to stay really loyal to the spirit of the games, but I'm hoping to retell things in such a way that's uniquely my style. Sad, funny, and somewhere in between :)

*VIRMIRE, SALARIAN RECON COMPOUND*

*Boom* *Boom*. Deafening shotgun blasts reverberated off surrounding seaside cliffs which competed with the dull, ever-present roar of waves crashing against the rocky beach nearby. Tali was no stranger to the sound of gunfire, and in that one respect had it much easier than her non-suit bound counterparts. She could simply turn off her auditory inputs and go effectively deaf to the outside world. *Boom* She unconsciously flinched again like she had for every round fired previously. The noise didn't bother her, but the intent behind the action most definitely did.

For the past month she had enjoyed inclusivity and camaraderie like none she'd experienced before. The team meshed almost perfectly together, and even seemed to enjoy one another's company. It was expected that being cooped up on a small ship for extended periods would help to catalyze new relationships, but the sort of bond she'd witnessed was something else. Maybe it was the seriousness of their mission, or the unity of purpose. Whatever it was, something special had been created. Humans openly accepted, and socialized with a Turian. That same Turian somehow forged a somewhat combative friendship with a grizzled Krogan. Even she, a lowly Quarian, had been welcomed with open arms.

Engineer Adams seemed genuinely enthusiastic about her inclusion into the engineering team, while simultaneously taking her on as something of an apprentice. Normally any species would have expressly forbade her from having access to any vital systems or indeed anything that wasn't nailed down. However on this boat old grudges and biases seemed to be mostly non-existent. This was all thanks to the man who acted as the glue that bound them all together.

He was eccentric, hot headed, and suffered from an unbelievably short temper. He also used the strangest phrases to describe what was happening or what he wanted, and seemed to be utterly dumbfounded that no one ever understood his obscure references. That being said he was remarkably compassionate at the right times, had an undeniably good, if dry, sense of humor, and prized the sake of his crew above all else. That was never more evident than during the events of the last two weeks.

First he had gone with Garrus to off a Salarian Doctor turned organ harvester psychopath. Next he'd followed up on Wrex's request for help in finding a piece of family history. He'd followed the Krogan to some backwater planet infested with trigger happy mercs in search of a set of outdated Krogan armor. He earned two cracked ribs and a torn bicep for his trouble. Then as if all that hadn't been enough he'd run off to answer the call of his Alliance higher ups by investigating heightened Geth activity in the Armstrong Cluster. They'd cleared outposts on nearly a half dozen worlds by the time they were done. They'd had to fight through waves of massing Geth which he was never very keen on to begin with, but it was only made worse by the injuries he'd sustained previously and during the campaign. Despite that he'd still managed to think of his crew's interests. Specifically hers.

Only a day later she'd arrived at her station in engineering to find an unassuming OSD waiting for her attached to a small note. He said he'd found something strange on Solcrum, and thought fast enough to download what he'd found. He figured it might be something she would be interested in, and so made a copy for her. She assumed from the wording in his note that he didn't know just how significant the data he'd found actually was, nor how immeasurably much the gesture meant to her.  
Things could scarcely have been going any better. She was starting to feel completely at home aboard the Normandy. Perhaps even more than she did among her own people on her birth ship the Rayya. At least on the Normandy she didn't have her perpetually disappointed father looking over her shoulder. Somehow she'd found a small measure of bliss traveling with complete strangers hunting for a psychotic megalomaniac through the stars.

*Boom* That bliss had abruptly evaporated upon touching down on Virmire. The Commander had dropped everything else upon receiving word from the council that a Salarian STG team had gone missing in the area, and that Saren might have been involved. Without wasting any time they'd located the Salarian commandos, and regrouped on the planet's surface. At that point the commando's ranking officer, a Captain named Kirrahe, had briefed them on the situation and the complex they'd been running recon on. Wrex had immediately taken a keen interest when it was revealed that the facility was a biological testing ground for eradicating the Genophage.

He had not been so keen when Shepard had agreed with the Salarian Captain that the facility needed to be demolished. She wasn't close enough to hear exactly what was being said, but the shouting match that ensued between Wrex and Kraven left little doubt as to the nature of the disagreement. Both had stormed off after. Shepard to one of the STG team's tents, and Wrex to the beach. The Krogan now stood alone in a brooding silence, occasionally firing clouds of shot into the surf. No one dared approach him lest he turn the muzzle of his weapon on them instead.

*Boom* She jumped from the sound, and jumped again immediately after when a hand landed on her shoulder. To her surprise the hand belonged to Gunnery Chief Williams. "Ashley?"

"It's going to be fine. The Commander said he's got a plan to calm him down." Ashley said in a surprisingly soothing tone.

Tali wasn't at all convinced. "How's he going to do that?"

Ashley shrugged, and dropped her hand to her side. "He didn't say. I'm going to keep my gun close by just in case though."

"That makes two of us." Kaidan chimed in as he walked over to join them. "Hopefully the Commander can talk some sense into him before he does something he regrets."

"I haven't heard of many Krogan that harbor regrets." Tali observed watching their stewing squad mate carefully.

*Boom* *Boom*

She jumped again, but not from the echoing reports. "Don't you all have gear to prep?" Shepard asked sharply as he stalked past their gathering toward Wrex.

All three immediately stood at rigid attention. "Aye Skipper... We'll get right on it." Ashley offered quickly.

They all lapsed into a tense silence to watch what was almost certainly going to be a huge shit show. None however were willing to interpose themselves between what amounted to a dispute between an unstoppable force and an immovable object. The force stomped up to the object and punched his shoulder to get his attention. The object angrily turned with shotgun still in hand, and not entirely pointed in a safe direction. The three observers gasped as force drew his sidearm, and shouted something at object. Object spat into the sand, and brought up his sawed off death dealer to point squarely at force's chest. Force spat, and kicked sand at object before throwing his gun into a dune.

The observers had to work to keep from laughing despite the situation as force took a step forward and bashed his unprotected forehead into object's cranial plates. Object staggered back more from the shock force's actions caused, and less because of the strength of the blow. Object then pitched his weapon to land beside force's and stepped forward to take a vicious swing at the Human's somewhat drunkenly swaying face. Force was at least partially feigning dizziness as he slid beneath object's right hook to deliver a quick uppercut to his larger opponent's jaw. It was nothing more than a token hit since his torn bicep was in no condition to put any force behind it.

Object bellowed with rage as he attempted a left uppercut of his own, which sailed through thin air as force sidestepped to deliver a quick left jab into object's ribs. Object swung his right meat club in a vicious backhand faster than force could react. He managed to turn away from the worst of the blow, but still took a grazing knuckle across his right temple. He spun with the momentum of the strike to carry himself out of the Krogan's kill zone before doing what absolutely no one expected him to. He shouted like a mad man as he vaulted forward to shoulder check the lumbering mountain in front of him. He might as well have tackled a Dreadnaught for all the good it did. Object snagged force by the back of his armor's collar before ramming a massive knee into his midsection.

The air left force's lungs in rush, but he still managed to break object's grip before another hammer blow could impact his healing ribs. He shoved object away with his left hand then jumped to deliver a drop kick to the massive Krogan's face. Force hit the sand a couple heartbeats before object did. Object scrambled to his feet relatively quickly, but force was very slow in getting up. Object angrily stomped over with blood pouring from his right nostril, and roughly grabbed force by the collar to hoist him up. Object drew back his left fist in preparation of sending it sailing through force's skull. Force defiantly raised both fists in one finger salutes.

The trio of observers now joined by Garrus, and Liara who had been alerted by the commotion started forward to stop Wrex from killing the Commander. Wrex said something to Shepard, and Shepard said something back although none of them could hear what it was as they ran through the mire of fine sand. As they reached the two combatants Wrex lowered his left hand, and hauled the woozy looking Shepard to his feet.

"Glad you saw it my way... Didn't have time to bury your ass out here anyway." Kraven grumbled sarcastically which elicited a grudging chuckle from the Krogan. Wrex heartily clapped the reeling Human on the shoulder and mentioned something about having a quad the size of a Tomkah.

"Are you ok Shepard?" Tali worriedly blurted out hurrying over to him as Wrex gathered up his weapon and walked away. The rest of the team stood by ready to rush in to help if need be.

He waved away their concern. "Sunshine, and rainbows."

His wobbling stance robbed his words of credence. She dutifully stepped up before any of the others could react to sling his arm around her thin shoulders. "Keelah Shepard, what were you thinking? Doctor Chakwas is going to kill you." She scolded as she led him away.

"About which part? Picking a fight with Wrex or head butting him?"

"Pick one." She said sternly.

"You're right… How much will it cost me to keep this quiet?"

She thought for a moment while she helped him to one of the Salarian's tents to sit down for a moment. Her woman's intuition told her that both Ashley and Liara were staring daggers at her, but she didn't mind in the least. "How much you got?" She asked mischievously.

That caught him off guard. He had no doubt assumed she would have responded in her customarily shy manner that she didn't want anything. She usually only engaged in playful banter when they were aboard the ship. It took him a minute in his addled state to formulate his response. "I… Um. I'm not really sure what I have that I can actually give away. Most of it belongs to the Alliance or the Council."

She gingerly lowered him onto a cot. "Dinner and a movie will do I suppose." She said before realizing what was coming out of her mouth. She raised her wide eyes to meet his hoping against hope that he was still too loopy from another possible concussion to catch her meaning.

Those hopes died a slow death as one of his eyebrows elevated incredulously. He started to open his mouth when the Salarian Captain barged into the deserted tent. She latched onto the distraction like a dying Varren sinking in slip sand.

"Oh excuse me. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything." Kirrahe apologized starting to back out of the tent.

She shook her head, and made to leave. "No no I was just um… I was heading over to check on my uh… I was just leaving."

She rapidly scurried from the makeshift building as fast as she could, utterly grateful that no one could see her face turning a deep shade of violet. She could just hear the Captain congratulating the Commander on his unorthodox method of calming his Krogan squad member, but didn't hear Shepard's reply. She prayed to every deity her father had taught her about that Shepard would forget what she'd said during the mission to come. If he didn't she had no idea what she was going to do.

She recalled one of Shepard's inexhaustible idioms of being caught between the devil and deep blue sea. She didn't have the slightest idea of what either of those things were, but Ashley had graciously explained what the saying meant. She was now stuck with an unbelievably uncomfortable dilemma. Should she play off her request for a date as a silly joke, or should she confess her feelings and suffer the embarrassment of rejection. 'Maybe Saren's goons are good enough shots to put me out of my misery.' She thought grimly.


	14. Chapter 14

**BulgarianBarbarian:** Your wait is over. I can't lie I like writing the fluff. It's fun. Guess we'll have to wait and see who takes the one way ticket to nuclear town... Well I don't have to but you do. ;)

 **The-White-Spiral:** I couldn't ask for anything more. Thank you!

 **Guest:** Likewise. My favorite DLC by far was Citadel. Generally speaking everything I write will follow along with the story, but with twists thrown in. Sometimes happier. Sometimes more sad. Tali's date should be a load of fun though :)

 **Aftermath212:** The rubber definitely meets the road. Let's hope my warped idea of humor translates lol

 **ivandundalov7:** I want to keep making you say that lol Yes I plan to keep it going. Things might be sporadic once Andromeda releases, but this is too fun to let go.

 **LeviathaN7:** Thanks. She's got such an attractive and unique personality it makes writing that kind of stuff loads of fun.

 **A/N:** This is a longer one to make up for the time it took to get it out. I'm working on launching my own online retail store which takes quite a bit of my time, and working on training a new puppy. I'm not cooling off at all. Just have less time to set aside. Anyway enjoy.

*VIRMIRE, KROGAN CLONING FACILITY*

"Give a little ground Williams. Don't want them to turtle up." Catpain Kirrahe's voice crackled over the coms.

"Sounds like things are well in hand." Garrus observed as he eyed the dead Salarian in the cell in front of them.

"Sounds like it. Hopefully they don't run into anything like this..." Kraven agreed unable to tear his eyes away from the diminutive corpse on the other side of the glass. "I've never seen anything like that. Do you suppose it was just psychotropics in his system?"

Tali shook her head. "Maybe that was part of it, but he seemed lucid. Just crazy. The Bosh'Tets may have employed some kind of torture but I didn't see any visible marks."

"Either way I guess his ticket was punched as soon as we walked by. If I'd let him out we'd have been putting a bullet in him at some point for sure. Let's keep moving." Shepard motioned on with his gun although he had to catch his hand from reaching back to grasp the hilt of the Prothean sword out of habit. He'd started bringing it on almost every mission, and while this excursion was no exception he tended to keep it in reserve as his 'oh shit' button. He'd had the chance to use it several times purging the Armstrong Cluster of Geth, and while he'd embraced using the weapon completely his crew were still a bit leery.

On Solcrum in particular he'd gotten a real sense of what the blade was really capable of. Upon retrieving data from a random console his team had immediately been swarmed by cyclopian tin men. Himself, Garrus, Tali, and Liara had doled out a punishing fusillade of fire, but had barely even managed to slow the oncoming tide of homicidal robots. Once his gun's action had locked open in overheat he reached for his back up. After that everything became a bit of a blur.

He remembered triggering his biotics to close the gap, and bring his bladed weapon to bear. He remembered striking several bi pedal buckets and relishing the subdued explosions of their synthetic bodies disintegrating. He sort of remembered thinking that the sword must somehow amplify his own biotic potential, and focus it into a kind of disruptor detonation. Lastly he remembered that he REALLY wanted to see it happen again. And again. And again.

That had been where his recollection of Solcrum ended. The next thing he knew, he was back in the Normandy's med bay with a dour looking doctor frowning down at him. Later he had asked his squad what had happened, but only ended up with several colorful phrases describing the same thing. He'd gone off the reservation. Details weren't exactly forthcoming as to how, which had proven exceedingly frustrating. Despite that no one seemed terribly perturbed by his little episodes. Moreover he'd received the impression that while he was going ham, he'd managed to wreak no small amount of havoc. That alone made losing his marbles worth it so long as Geth were on the receiving end.

After that he'd requested that Liara redouble her efforts to ascertain just what it was he was carrying around on the off chance it was doing irreparable damage to his brain. She'd adamantly agreed having witnessed his literal descent into madness first hand. Regardless of the gravity of the situation she hadn't managed to hide the snickering smirk that fought to play across her features as she described how his episode ended.

"You drove that thing down through the middle of a Geth Armature like it was made of little more than wax. Even before both of it's halves hit the floor you looked around for something else to fight. Upon seeing nothing besides us you jammed the blade into the deck, went rigid, and fell flat on your face."

He had unconsciously rubbed his nose which was still incredibly sore although thankfully not broken. Just another injury to add to his laundry list. "And I suppose it would have killed you lot to try and catch me huh?"

She laughed without remorse this time. "It caught us completely off guard Commander, especially given how slowly you had been moving up until that point. Using the sword flipped a switch and turned you into a whirling death machine. None of us wanted to be anywhere near."

He grunted. "I'll be sure to remember that the next time we have a team building exercise."

She'd snickered again as he excused himself from her office. That had been several days ago. Now he found himself prowling through the eerie halls of a cloning facility with his berserker's brand stowed at his back once again. He didn't like the idea of losing control of himself, but was somewhat vindicated by the revelation that he still maintained enough presence of mind to discern friend from foe. At least from what Liara had told him.

His reverie was broken once his team entered an office with a gorgeous seaside view. He raised the muzzle of his firearm to point at the cowering Asari that was doing a poor job of hiding behind her desk. "Come out where I can see you." He commanded.

"Wait please don't shoot I'm not one of them." She pleaded rising from behind cover with her hands shakily held aloft.

"Define them, and then explain what you're doing here." Shepard barked keeping the sights of his gun pointed squarely at her chest.

She gulped past the lump in her throat. "I… My name is Rana Thanoptis. I was hired as an independent contractor to work on formulating a cure for the Genophage."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure…"

Kraven's eyes narrowed. "Not much use to us then are you?"

"Wait! There was something else. Something more secret we were hired to investigate!" She practically shrieked as a noticeable dark patch started to expand through the fabric around her groin.

"I'm listening." He still didn't let his aim waver.

"Saren. He was trying to study indoctrination."

"What's that?"

She nervously wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of a gloved hand. "It's um. Difficult to explain. Saren was afraid that contact with that big ship Sovereign was affecting him somehow. Like it was controlling him. He ordered us to perform experiments with the Salarian infiltrators that had been captured."

Garrus stepped up to whisper in the Commander's ear. "Like our friend back in the cell block."

Shepard nodded. "And what did he find out?"

"From what we could uncover it seemed like proximity sped up the process. Given enough time a subject would lose their minds entirely, and become empty husks. It usually started with a subject hearing strange droning noises that wouldn't go away followed by severe headaches, anxiety, hallucinations, and eventually a kind of waking coma. The ones who resisted the hardest usually reached the burnout state the fastest."

Shepard cocked his head to other side. "Tali, do you think the Geth would have developed mind control tech like that? Something that could 'hack' an organic brain?"

She considered for a moment before shaking her head. "Doubtful. Their programming was based around conventional coding so it's unlikely their continued development would result in something like this. Especially since they haven't been outside the Veil in centuries."

"Hmm… Well that complicates things. Where did he get the ship from?"

Rana shook her head, but still kept her aching arms raised. "No one really knows."

"I suppose I'll have to ask him myself then."

"What do we do with her?" Garrus asked.

"That depends on how cooperative she's willing to be."

Palpable tension hung in the air for several seconds before her resolve broke as fear of the immediate threat overruled fear of the delayed one. "I… I can help you." She carefully stepped over to the door's console behind her, and keyed in her credentials. The portal whisked open on oiled tracks. "See? This should take you straight to Saren's command center."

The Commander considered his options before lowering his gun. "That works. We're going to blast this place to atoms. If I was you I'd start running while you have a chance."

All color drained from the hapless scientist's face as realization dawned. "You… What? Oh… Oh Goddess no!" She frantically raced past them without even a backward glance.

"Maybe don't stop for a fresh change of clothes. Just saying." Kraven called after her retreating form.

"As if she wasn't scared enough already you Bosh'Tet." Tali chided.

"Hey at least she got the chance to make a run for it unlike the poor souls she helped experiment on." He countered.

"Good point."

"Alright you two. Let's go knock and see if anyone's home. And remember, I am entirely ok with shooting first, and asking questions later."

Both Garrus and Tali answered in the affirmative as they hurried through the newly unlocked door ahead. Within moments they burst through another door into Saren's inner sanctum. Every eye furiously scanned the interior of the multi-level chamber waiting for the rogue Spectre to come vaulting out of the shadows guns blazing. After a few seconds of almost silence it became clear that the room was empty. The only sound that could be heard was a low thrumming buzz coming from the lower level walkway. As the trio descended to investigate Shepard's heart sunk.

"Oh hell. Not another of these things." He groaned upon laying eyes on yet another Prothean Beacon.

"Is this like the one you found on Eden Prime?" Garrus asked plainly trying to keep his distance.

"Yes." Shepard complained. "Maybe we could just leave this one alone? It's going to get blown up with the rest of the facility anyway so no one would even have to know that it was here right?"

"But what if if there's something important in it?" Tali interjected.

He stared daggers at her. "Thanks Tali… I definitely hadn't thought of that." He sarcastically said through gritted teeth.

"Of course Commander." She replied sweetly.

He reluctantly turned to face the accursed beacon. The one on Eden Prime had nearly turned his brain into a bowl of mashed potatoes. He hoped this one would be more gentle. With excruciating slowness he reached out with both hands for the pulsing obelisk.

He yanked his hands back, and turned around. "Must be broken. Doesn't look like we'll get anything from this one. Best to just move on."  
"Shepard!" Both Garrus and Tali scolded at once.

"Guh fine!" He growled turning back to the beacon, and walking up to touch it.

Just as before a nightmare slideshow of images paraded across his consciousness just like the ones he experience nearly every night. Only these visions were a great deal more vivid, and detailed. He still didn't have the slightest clue of what he was really seeing apart from the planet that came at the end.

He reflexively pulled his arms back once the vision was done, and tried to mentally downplay the indescribable sense of violation at having had memories forcibly stuffed into his mind. "Alright. That's absolutely the last time I do that. If we ever find another one of these things one of you gets to get brain fuc…"

"What did you see?" Tali interrupted before he could finish the last word in his tirade.

"Same as before." He grumbled. "Something horrible happening that involved some kind of machinery and what looked like liquified flesh. The planet at the end looks clearer, but I still don't recognize it."

"Well we won't get any more answers standing here. We should double back, and see if we can catch up to Saren." Garrus suggested.

"Fine by me." Shepard concurred, and started to lead them back up the ramp to take them out of Saren's lair.

He caught a faint flicker out of the corner of his eye as he was about to walk out the door. When he looked he saw a console on the upper deck had lit with crimson light. A single winking flasher broadcast that an incoming signal was waiting. Curiosity took over as he brushed past his companions to take a closer look. They both fell into step behind him as he strode up to the console, and keyed open the channel. A shiver ran up his spine as a holographic representation of the ship, Sovereign, materialized above the display.

"You are not Saren."

He was momentarily stunned by the proclamation, but quickly recovered. "He went to take a leak. Can I take a message?"

"Rudimentary creatures of flesh and bone. You touch my mind, fumbling in the darkness, but I am beyond your comprehension."

The projection's tone, or lack thereof, rankled. Especially when it referred to him as rudimentary. "Your programmer should have learned some better manners so someone like me didn't blast his creation's virtual ass into actual dust."

"Um… Shepard. I don't think this is a VI." Tali cautiously informed him.

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well shit then this thing better apologize for calling me rudimentary."

"Your vanity is irrelevant. Your primitive intelligences cannot even imagine the true nature of my purpose. You cannot fathom the level of existence so far above your own."

Now Kraven was beginning to get mad. "Vanity? Primitive? You better watch it you waste of space. Intelligent or not you're a machine, and machine's can be broken."

"Foolish Human. Your misplaced bravado will not spare you from the harvest. I am Sovereign. The arbiter of your ascension. The bringer of your salvation."

That was the last straw. Nobody got away with insulting him to his face. Especially not some damnable machine. "That does it!" He smashed an armored fist into the console causing the holographic image to sputter and die. "I'm going to teach that hulking tin can a lesson it won't soon forget. Let's get…"

He didn't have time to finish before Joker's voice crackled over the com. "Commander?"

"What is it Joker?" He asked still fuming.

"I don't know what you did down there, but that ship just showed up on sensors pulling a turn that would have sheered one of ours in half."

"Ha. Must have struck a nerve then." Shepard replied smugly satisfied.

Joker didn't appear to share his sense of accomplishment. "Uh… Whatever you say Commander. It's heading your way."

"Good. Maybe we can make it a candle for our nuclear cake. We'll be to the rendezvous in five minutes.

"Roger that. I've already got the rest of the team board. We'll meet you at the drop zone and pick up the Salarians and Ashley."

With that the line cut, and Shepard's team hurried off toward the agreed upon rendezvous point. Geth seemed to come out of the wood work, but in the end did little apart from slowing them down. Days fighting nothing but Geth in the Armstrong Cluster turned out to be excellent practice. Even a few lumbering Krogan showed up to impede their progress, but were swiftly brought down by concentrated fire from Garrus' long rifle, Tali's shotgun, and his assault carbine. All three knew what it meant to let a Krogan get too close, and so prioritized their targets to ensure that didn't happen.

As the last Krogan battle master barring their way fell, they came upon a giant sliding door which contained the stream of water that was used to cool the facility's reactors. As they stepped through they could hear the roar of the Normandy's thrusters as it came in for a landing at the mouth of the channel. Kaidan and Wrex started down the lowering cargo ramp along with several of the Normandy's crew carrying the nuclear power core of the Salarians' derelict ship. Liara lightly followed behind with her pistol drawn.

"Special delivery." Kaidan grunted with effort.

Shepard trotted forward to lend a hand. "Perfect timing. Let's get this thing rigged, and beat feet."

They slogged through the calf deep water rushing through the channel to deposit their deadly payload next to an enormous pump. Kaidan immediately set to work wiring up the trigger to detonate their parting gift. As his fingers dug into delicate mechanisms Ashley's voice broke over the com.

"Commander?"

"Go ahead Williams."

Sporadic gunfire temporarily drowned out the transmission.

"Say again Ashley. I didn't catch that."

"I said we're in tough up here on the North East Tower. Geth are swarming our position."

Shepard motioned for Tali, and Garrus to follow. "Understood. We'll be there in two minutes." He turned to Kaidan. "Make sure that thing is set to blow then clear out. Have Joker swing in to pick us up when you're done."

"Roger that Commander." The Lt acknowledged without looking up from what he was doing.

Kraven nodded then turned on his heel to head off toward another gargantuan sliding door on the far side of the channel. "We're on the clock so what's say we make this a quick smash and grab."

"Fine by me." Tali agreed.

"No argument here." Garrus concurred.

With that the trio cycled open the rolling slab, and began the arduous struggle through yet more opposition to reach their beleaguered squad mate. The climb was made all the more uncomfortable by the fact that Geth Leapers were crawling out of almost every nook and cranny. After bulldozing their way through the one eyed weirdos, Shepard's team made it through to a lift that would take them to the top of the Northern cooling tower. They hadn't taken more than five steps out of the car upon reaching the top before Kaidan's frantic shout.

"Shepard! A huge contingent of Geth just dropped in. We're getting overrun." A blast from a shotgun and Wrex's bellowing roar could be heard in the background.

"Shit. Ashley what's your situation? Do we have time to bail out Kaidan?" Shepard called.

Quiet for several seconds. "Negative Commander. There's too many, and they keep coming. Go get the Lt. We'll make a stand here to keep them off your back."

Kaidan quickly cut in. "No Shepard. I'll set the bomb to detonate. Go get Ashley and get out of here."

"Shut up!" They were both stunned into silence by his outburst. "I've left enough squad mates behind to last two lifetimes so don't be dumb. Tali, and Garrus are coming back to reinforce Kaidan. Ashley I'm coming for you myself. Joke are you listening?"

It took a moment for the pilot to respond. "Aye Commander."

"Good. Make a pass to pick up the bomb squad. Then come get me and Ashley."

"Roger that commander. But… There's still a lot of Geth down there. I don't know if we'll have time to do both…"

"I mean it! So help me if you leave me on this rock I will haunt you for the rest of your miserable life."

Joker didn't even try to hide his satisfaction at needling the Commander. "Whatever you say Shepard. Maybe see you in a few."

"That scummy little troll. Alright you two get the lead out." He commanded dashing off to support his faltering Gunnery Chief.

Tali stood frozen for several seconds watching him go before a nudge from Garrus' elbow snapped her out of it. As the two headed back the way they'd come she mentally said a Keelish prayer to keep Shepard safe.

Unbeknownst to her he was actually thinking something very similar in response as he sprinted toward the sounds of battle ahead. As he rounded the last bend he almost ran headlong into a stream of pulse rifle fire. He twisted awkwardly to roll away from the scintillating beams, and minimize any damage his barriers took. He scrunched up against a huge fan housing and readied his carbine.

"Ashley sound off!" He shouted.

"Here Commander!" She called back a couple dozen yards ahead.

He took a fortifying breath then scrambled to his feet, and ran toward her position, gun blazing. He was rewarded with a shower of sparks erupting from a Geth holding a sniper rifle. Unfortunately he didn't have long to admire the sagging robot before a ball of superheated gas blasted into the ground a few feet away, tossing him to the ground like a rag doll. He desperately moved to right himself, and look for the source of the blind side. His eyes raised toward the heavens and the unearthly hum of an anti-grav platform hovering above the battlefield.

His lips curled into a snarl. "Saren."

The horribly disfigured Turian let out a deep, throbbing laugh. A wave of his hand signaled his AI minions to cease fire. "Shepard. I'm impressed you managed to find me here."

"That's good. I'm disappointed though. I thought you were a better shot." The Commander snorted. Half of his hard suit felt like it was infested with fire ants, but the ugly son of a bitch didn't need to know about that.

"Charming as ever I see. I'm surprised the council saw fit to even entertain your application to become a spectre."

"Yeah, well somebody needed to show the has beens how it's really done. Hell of a place you picked to retire. Too bad I'm about to wipe it and you from existence."

Saren's ghostly glowing eyes narrowed. "Bold talk considering your history. Tell me, did you have the same attitude when your platoon was wiped out on Akuze?"

Boiling rage set Kraven's entire body ablaze with cobalt fire at the mention of his men. "I'm going to enjoy bringing your head back to the council on a spit." He growled through tightly clenched teeth.

Saren sniffed indignantly. "It seems I hit something vital. You're welcome to try Shepard, but your fate was sealed the moment you set foot on this planet. I have the powers of a God at my fingertips."

Shepard spit on the ground. "You mean the God that's taking over your mind, and that you're trying to figure out how to escape from?"

That caught the Turian momentarily off guard. Even through Sovereign's influence he still retained enough of himself to think twice. "What… No. That's… I've been granted a reprieve. I have, and continue to prove my value to the Reapers. In return I've been promised a place of leadership in the coming age."

"Reapers huh? And what is it these Reapers are trying to do?"

Saren raised his arms in a grand gesture. "They come from the deepest reaches of dark space to gather sentient life from across the galaxy. Every race is harvested for ascension before the Reapers disappear again. They are an unstoppable force in the universe, but I've brokered a deal that will ensure our place amongst them."

"You sound like a puppet. How can you be sure they aren't just messing with your head? If they're as powerful as you seem to think then you aren't leading anything but Jack and Shit. And Jack left town. If you really believed you were immune why go to all this trouble to experiment on captured Salarians?"

Saren's features twisted into a horrified mask. "No… You're wrong. Sovereign promised that I would ascend to immortality…" He buried his face in his hands for a moment before a sickly light started to shine through his fingers. He raised his gaze as his glowing eyes flared. "You would undo what I've accomplished. You could jeopardize the harvest!" He shouted maniacally and raised his clawed hand to loose another sphere of plasma at the Commander.

At the same moment his remaining Geth opened fire once again. Ashley and the Salarians, who had been quietly slinking away from the synthetic's firing ling opened up in response, but could only return fire in short bursts. Over an hour of constant fighting had taken it's toll on both their stamina and weapons. Shepard sprang away from the glowing orb, but wasn't quite fast enough. The barrel of his gun melted into useless slag from the deadly caress of chaotic energy.

"Damn!" He cursed and through the junked carbine away. He hunkered behind a pair of exchanger conduits to break line of sight.

As he did he heard his adversary's levitating chariot hover in close, and a pair of taloned feet thump to the ground. His hand reached up to grasp his backup's handle, and swore that he wasn't going to lose himself this time.

"Ashley!" He shouted over the cacophony of weapons fire.

"Skipper?" She called back.

"I'm about to break out the backup! Get yourselves clear!" Without waiting for a response he ripped the blade from it's magnetic clasps at his back and vaulted over the pipes he'd been using as cover.

He could feel his biotic energy starting to funnel into the sword as it too began to heat up with azure fury. His eyes locked onto the hulking Turian silhouette thirty feet away and threw himself forward. Several Geth attempted to interpose themselves between him and his target. They popped like overfilled balloons as focused gravitational forces from the sword's edge dissolved the bonds holding their atoms together. Euphoric satisfaction coupled with unspeakable anger washed through the Commander's consciousness with each enemy felled as he closed the gap on a now bewildered looking Saren.

The former Spectre unleashed another plasma charge, and while Shepard was aware it was coming he didn't entirely try to get out of the way. Hellish fire washed over the left side of his torso melting his hard suit like butter and sending jagged spears of pure agony lancing into his brain. It only made him angrier.

He roared and biotically vaulted into the air intent on pulverizing his antagonist into unrecognizable dust. Saren was forced to throw himself clear before Shepard came down on him like a ton of bricks. Chunks of concrete and steel shrapnel rocketed in all directions catching Geth that were standing too close and tearing them to ribbons. Saren whirled with lightning speed to fire another plasma shot, but the suddenly much faster Human was already bearing down on him. Dust swirled in arcing jet streams behind the rampaging Commander as he charged to close the distance between himself and Saren in the blink of an eye. In a last ditch effort Saren grabbed the Geth nearest him, and flung it into Kraven's path to slow him down.

The Prothean blade whistled through the air to messily disintegrate the unwitting roadblock before a plasma shot from Saren's palm erupted out of it's remnants to catch Shepard nearly square in the chest. His barriers almost instantly failed letting the shot wash across his breastplate. He tumbled back from the force of the strike and unceremoniously plowed into a cooling fan assembly. His biotic corona could be seen flickering beneath the rubble that caved in on top of him before winking out. Saren snorted a slightly out of breath laugh, and started to turn his attention to the retreating Human and Salarians. He would regret his hubris.

Shepard blasted out of the pile of wreckage with an ear shattering howl and surged at Saren with terrifying speed. The corona surrounding his body, and weapon had shifted hue from a cool electric blue to bloody crimson while a murderous scarlet fire blazed in his eyes. Saren attempted to sidestep the charge, but even with his Reaper enhancements couldn't manage to keep up with the Commander's suddenly blinding speed. His brain barely had time to direct his limbs movement when Shepard's shoulder impacted his sternum with the force of an angry freight train. They both surged on in line with Kraven's momentum toward the North Tower's edge. Just before reaching the precipice Shepard dug in his heels to slow himself just enough to whip his sword up, and through the off balance Spectre. To his credit Saren took full advantage of the movement to shove himself further away and out of reach. He sailed over the side of the tower as the Commander skidded to a halt just before the edge. Shepard bellowed with unbridled fury as Saren alighted on his anti-grav platform which had miraculously bolted out of nowhere to catch him.

With one thoughtful glance the Turian sped away leaving Kraven to impotently rage at his escaping query. Just as his adversary disappeared from view the red inferno engulfing him died. He went completely rigid as the burnt out biotic amps installed around his body finally gave up the ghost. He heard Ashley calling his name before darkness swallowed him entirely.


	15. Chapter 15

**Revolt32:** I can honestly say I haven't. I don't actually know how to do that lol If you have some insight for me I'll toss it over there if peeps want to read it. Thanks :)

 **Aftermath212:** I totally get why Bioware had you lose one, but honestly in my head it would be silly of him to not bring along the whole gang for a fight like that. Besides I have plans for those two anyway. I don't want to give away any spoilers. Suffice it to say I have a plan for addressing that issue in the next volume (ME:2)

 **BulgarianBarbarian:** Thanks! I guess he can be a bit of an irreverent bastard. ;)

 **Guest:** Much appreciated! The paragon, renegade mechanic is actually one of my favorite aspects of the trilogy. Mixing the two in playthroughs results in some of the best dialogue ever since you can tailor it to how your character might actually react to some being a sweet heart or an asshole. Very satisfying!

 **A/N: Sorry this one took so long to come out. I've started a new job, been working on my online store (if you're curious to see it send me a pm), and of course been playing the new ME. We're starting to wind down so I'm starting to formulate ideas for moving into the second. I'm not sure if I'll just keep writing on this one, and separate it into a second volume, or just start a completely new story. Thoughts? Also I just wanted to get this published so I didn't do as much proofreading as I normally do FYI. Anyway enjoy folks!**

*SSV NORMANDY*

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya was good at coping with loss. She wouldn't exactly have described herself as being more emotionally healthy than other people. Rather she would say she'd had practice compartmentalizing so no one would see her vulnerability. When she lost her mother she was forced to deal with her grief on her own while her father withdrew into an unending seclusion. She had to cope quickly upon losing her pilgrimage companion, Keenah, to Saren's assassins. In the first instance she'd soldiered on because that was what was expected of an admiral's daughter. In the second she'd made peace without looking back because survival took precedence. In this situation she found herself unable to accept her current circumstances, and she was having a hard time admitting why.

The battle had been grueling to say the least. None of the ground team had managed to leave Virmire completely unscathed which, thanks to the Commander, all of them did indeed leave. Ashley had to be treated for multiple burns and contusions from pulse rifle fire. Kaidan suffered three broken fingers and a dislocated knee after trying to take a Krogan on at close range. Wrex earned himself a series of fresh new scars pummeling robots to dust with his skull. Liara had several third degree burns from the wash from a plasma grenade. Garrus was sporting a limp after shrapnel blasted it's way through his armor, and into his right hip. She seemed to have fared the best out of all of them considering she'd only take a grazing hit on her forearm that barely breached her suit's containment. She would be down for a week with a mild infection, but that was about the size of it. The Commander on the other hand had come out a great deal worse than anyone else.

Upon hearing the Gunnery Chief's calls for evac, Joker had maneuvered the Normandy in to pick up her, Shepard, and the Salarian STG team. Within minutes they were breaking Virmire's atmosphere as a gargantuan mushroom cloud roiled behind them. She had already been patched up and was leaving the infirmary when several crew members came rushing past with the Commander's smoking body on the gurney between them. She'd tried to follow them in asking if he was going to be alright, but received a worrying 'we're not sure' before she was whisked out and the door shut.

Nearly three hours later a haggard looking Doctor Chakwas had emerged to offer the waiting crew news on Shepard's condition. "He had severe brain swelling so we needed to split a small portion of his skull to relieve the pressure. His biotic amplifiers were completely burnt out, and will need to be replaced. We did our best to minimize the damage to his spinal cord, but he had five cracked vertebrae and two ruptured discs. We set the rest of his bones, and re inflated his left lung."

The entire squad was utterly flabbergasted. Wrex was the first to regain his composure. "Sounds bad for someone without redundant systems. He gonna be alright?"

Doctor Chakwas nodded wearily while absently removing her coffee stained surgical gloves and smock. "Miraculously he's begun to stabilize although he won't be out of the woods for some time. Until the swelling in his brain goes down I am going to be keeping him in a medically induced coma."

"I… I didn't realize it was that bad." Ashley breathed in disbelief. "He shouldn't have come back…"

Kaidan walked to her side and put an arm around her shoulders. The gravity of the situation overrode his usually shy demeanor. "That's just the type of person he is. If not for that bull headed determination, at least one of us would have gone up with the facility."

The crew nodded in silent agreement.

"As hard as he tries to tear himself apart he knows how to take a beating. That being said the capabilities of our med bay won't be enough to fully treat his more extensive internal injuries. We should return to the Citadel with the utmost haste." The Doctor declared firmly even though not a soul aboard the Normandy dared dispute her decision.

Kaidan raised a hand to his ear to key open a channel to their pilot, but conspicuously kept his arm wrapped around the Gunnery Chief's shoulders. "Joker, we need to get to the Citadel on the double."

"Roger that. How is he?" The helmsman's normal snark was nonexistent.

"Shepard takes a lot of killing. No way that pale imitation of a Turian Spectre would be able to keep him down for long." Garrus answered before his Human counterpart.

"Glad to hear it. Let me know when he wakes up."

"Affirmative. We'll keep you posted. Out." Kaidan replied before cutting the feed to the cockpit.

"Right. Until that happens you all should go get some rest yourselves." Doctor Chakwas ordered as she made to return to the med bay, and catch some sleep on one of the open gurneys.

The team awkwardly fidgeted for a few moments before Tali blurted out. "Can't we stay, and wait for him to wake up?"

The Doctor turned to cast an appraising look over the gathering before her. "He's not going anywhere, and the lot of you need to recuperate yourselves." Downcast eyes dropped to floor. "But… I suppose I can set the ship's VI to page everyone if anything changes." She stood thoughtfully gauging her next words carefully. "I hadn't realized the extent of everyone's concern for that impossible man."

Wrex shifted uncomfortably at essentially being called soft. Especially when it was in reference to his fondness for a squishy little Human. "Yeah well… He signs our pay checks after all."

"Wait… The rest of you have been getting paid?" Liara huffed in irritation.

That got a grudging chuckle out of the group before the Doctor once again reiterated her order for rest. "I'll make sure he's awake in time for pay day, now all of you shoo."

The ground team reluctantly dispersed, and headed to beds that practically called each of their names. Tali stood frozen for a full minute after everyone else had left to stare at the med bay's door, and the broken man stubbornly clinging to life behind it. She said a silent prayer to herself before finally following everyone else's example, and heading to her sleeper pod.

*UNKNOWN*

A light breeze drifted past carrying handfuls of discarded dry leaves in it's gentle wake. Their brittle skins rustled against one another with a distinct sigh that could never be replicated by any other means. Their subtle earthy aroma's tinged the air as they lazily brushed past the craggy bark of barren trees that stood forever watchful amidst the never-ending flow of time. Faint rays of sunlight glinted through wiry branches that reached ever taller into the burnished bronze sky. All was calm and peaceful.

Shepard effortlessly glided between the silent sentinels, reaching out to brush his fingertips against their stony trunks as he passed. It had been so long since he had just had time to relax and truly enjoy his surroundings. So much of his time had been spent racing from one hostile location to the next in what seemed like a never ending struggle just to survive one more day. He relished the brief respite as best he could while he had the fleeting chance. As he wound his way through whatever grove he'd found himself in, his thoughts began to wander as well.

"I wonder where I am?" He nonchalantly asked to no one in particular and wasn't really surprised when no reply answered back.

"How did I get here?" Again no response but the quiet whisper of leaves tumbling along the ground at his feet.

He continued on his aimless journey through the woods but the sky was steadily growing dark. Crickets began to chirp as dusk lengthened and bathed the world around him in bluish shade.

"Hmm. Better find somewhere to rest for the night before it gets cold."

As if in sympathy to his thoughts a tiny amber spec of light began to flicker in the distance. Like a moth to flame he instinctively gravitated toward the only sign of life in the quiet forest around him. As he approached he was able to distinguish the source of the light beckoning him onward. The distinctly angular lines of a small colonial prefab unit materialized out of the gloom as he neared. All of the windows were dark save one on the second floor of the unit. He hovered up to the door and lightly tapped on it's metallic surface with the knuckles of his right hand.

He reached out to key open the door but it noiselessly glided open before he could even touch the keypad. He didn't notice that the breeze ceased as he entered the interior of the prefab unit or the door clicking shut behind him.

He made his way up the stairs toward the rear of the unit carefully avoiding the furnishings he somehow knew were there but couldn't actually see. He followed the warm glow of light emanating from the top of the stairs and made his way up. His feet seemed to grow heavier as he ascended, but he paid it no mind. One of the steps creaked loudly in protest as he put his full weight on it but he felt as if he'd been expecting it to. He reached the top of the small staircase feeling somewhat winded.

He glanced over toward the window he'd seen in the front of the prefab house and the back of a small hunched figure dimly illuminated by a short desk lamp. The figure didn't move or stir.

His body tensed as he edged closer to the diminutive silhouette seated beneath the window. His eyes flicked from side to side as disturbingly familiar details finally came into focus cloaked in the shadows. He recognized the bed from his room back on Mindoir. He saw the old Alliance Andy and Eclipse Eroba action figures that used to be his favorite toys growing up.

His apprehension grew as he carefully crept up behind the silent form. He could clearly see tussled brown hair and the worn grey hoody jacket the boy was wearing. "Wait you… you're…"

The air around him was unimaginably heavy, almost oppressively so. Even his own rapid breathing sounded like it was being heard from underwater. The cheerful song of the crickets outside ceased entirely leaving nothing but the smothering stillness. The light on the boy's desk flickered and winked out plunging the room into total darkness apart from a small shaft of moonlight shining in through the open window. Shepard's pulse quickened and nervous sweat began to bead on his forehead. He reached out toward the boy.

Then, like flood gates had been thrown wide, memory returned in an overwhelming rush. The building around him erupted into voracious flame. Screams of the dying pierced the calm night air. Sounds of a fight downstairs as his parents fought off the Batarian slavers that had forced their way into his home. His mother's shriek as one of the monsters caved in his father's skull with a boot. Her gurgling cry as a knife was driven into her neck. Death. Carnage. Destruction. The voices of hundreds in the colony crying out in anguish as their lives were wantonly ripped away.

The chorus of voices grew into an earth shattering wail as visions of an entire race called out in despair while their very essence was snuffed out by some diabolical machinery. Burning planets wheeling past with one standing out as somehow more relevant than the others. A shadowy colossus descending from the shadowy nether to burn away all that stood before it. It's bellowing roar drowned out the tormented screams echoing through his consciousness before completely silent blackness once again blanketed his mind.

He sat unmoving in the stillness for an unknown amount of time not knowing what to do. An irritatingly faint buzzing seemed to scratch at the very edges of his ears ability to hear, but he was certain it was there. He strained to make out the sound more clearly, and willed himself to drift toward the source of the sound through the inky darkness. For what seemed like an eternity he was met with failure before the sound withdrew. He tried to shout into the void trying to find the noise, but nothing escaped the shroud settling over his senses. Finding himself spiraling into oblivion he did the only thing he could think of. He got mad.

He screamed his rage at nothing even though his ears couldn't hear any sound. He thrashed against the constricting shadow that seemed to be holding him fast. He struggled and fought with every ounce of his being against the ethereal bonds that held him. A sickening thought crossed his mind that he was battling against the bonds of purgatory. That he was dead, and was lost in the nothingness of the afterlife. The idea drove a dagger of icy terror into his heart which made him fight even harder. He battered himself against invisible barriers in his desperate bid to escape whatever nightmare held him. Until he heard something new.

He froze and focused his every cell on the sound like a drowning man reaching for a life giving rope. His heart beat rapidly as the volume of the sound increased. He could make barely make out melodious tones wafting through his being in a familiar cadence. He started to struggle again to move toward where he believed the song to be coming from, but when he did the tone of the song changed. It became tense, and icy. He forced himself to relax, and just as he hoped the song went back to it's comforting ring. Encouraged by his progress he endeavored to let himself drift, but ever so slightly in the direction he wanted to go.

He had no way of knowing how long it took, but as he ghosted along he was becoming aware that the cold darkness around him was beginning to give way to warm glow. He beginning to hear other sounds coming from the gloom. Smooth tones, deep gravelly reverberations, sultry timbre, and colorful resonances. He decided he enjoyed listening to all of them, but the first was by far his favorite. Something light and exotic, yet altogether warm and inviting. As the ambience around him gradually grew in intensity he was beginning to understand that the noises were actually voices. He pushed himself to move towards them as fast as he could without angering his favorite.

As he did he started to recognize sounds forming into words although their meaning escaped him. He could discern that his favorite voice was saying something, and recognized the rolling R's he had come to adore. He slowed his progress forward to simply listen, and savor the sound of words he didn't understand spoken with a voice that could melt his very soul. He would have almost stayed like that indefinitely if not for the overwhelming urge to continue forward that tickled at the back of his consciousness.

He started to become aware of his body again as he finally stirred into wakefulness though his eyes stubbornly remained shut. At last his translator kicked in again letting him finally understand what the people around him were saying. His parched lips curled into a grin upon hearing his favorite voice's excited declaration.

"Doctor I think he's waking up!" Tali exclaimed.


	16. Chapter 16

**Kenneth Carmer:** I think you're right. Should be it's own story. I'll write the last chapter of this and the first chapter of the next with the name for the second story so everyone can transition over. Thank you! I've been pretty busy but I'm always thinking about this story. Especially when I'm listening to my music in the car. That's actually been the biggest inspiration for some of these chapters lol

 **Aftermath212:** Thank you! It took me quite a while to figure out how to work the two dreams together, but I'm happy it worked out ok :D Excellent advice. Having a huge story can be a bit daunting when you're first getting into it. Especially if you haven't become invested yet. I'm working on a couple different names for my second installment.

 **BulgarianBarbarian:** Thank you! I have to reign myself in a little sometimes (showed some of my original work to my brother. He advised that I could get a bit carried away with my adjectives lol) My site is langdaniels *dot* com. I sell NFL loot here in the states. I don't have the capability to ship overseas just yet, but hopefully soon :) I love your feedback so by all means let me know if there's anything on there I can improve!

 **Guest1:** Thanks very much! Yes I do plan on taking it all the way through to the end of ME3. It's a labor of love so there's never going to be a danger of burning out on it. Per everyone's awesome advice I'll definitely be splitting into 3 different stories so it's not one massive blob.

 **Guest2:** Thank you for the advice and the understanding! I know when I find something enjoyable I love to binge like a madman until it's over. Then I feel like a wiener because I don't have anything left to read or watch lol Job is going really good too so even though it take a lot of my time I still get enough to invest in my hobby :)

 **Guest3:** Thanks! I hear you. I'm debating whether I should devote one or two of my days off to just busting out a bunch of chapters so I can release on a little more consistent schedule. Especially now that I'm peetering out on Andromeda.

 **Guest4:** Thank you and I definitely will!

 **Guest5:** Ha yeah. As you get further you'll see he's pretty eccentric for sure. You know what they say about fiction imitating reality? I'll let you figure out where his particular affinity for legs came from ;)

 **Guest6:** Thank you very much that means a great deal! If I really buckled down I think I could produce something more on the heavy/serious side, but I'm always afraid of getting too far up my own ass taking my story too seriously. Glad you're enjoying my guiltless version :)

 **A/N: Firs things first. Thank you all for your tremendous outpouring of support for my limited release schedule, and the work I'm doing on my new job. You all always make my day whenever you take the time to chat with me about the story!** **We're coming up on the end of this one so in the final chapter I'll be including the name of the next story as well as having the first chapter for it up so you can immediately head over to it. Thanks again everyone!**

*CITADEL*

Garrus shifted nervously in his chair doing his best impression of someone enjoying a night of frivolity with reckless abandon. He was failing miserably. His eyes darted from one of his companions to the next trying to discern whether they were experiencing the same level of discomfort as he was. If he had the ability to sweat he was sure his brow would be a moisture soaked mess as he did his best to fix his restless eyes on the bottom of his full glass. It didn't take long for his gaze to once again flick up to take stock of his surroundings.

To his irritation, although not at all unexpectedly, Wrex seemed perfectly at ease. Kaidan appeared to be moderately relaxed although his frame maintained a certain rigidity. Across the bar he could see both Ashley, and Liara pretending to lounge in a booth near the large viewing window. Ashley seemed as calm as he imagined she ever could be while Liara blatantly broadcasted her discomfort for anyone that cared to notice. Tali stood off by herself tucked against the corner of the room so as not to receive too many irritated glares.

The only person besides Wrex he could imagine being ok with what they were going to do was none other than the man who's hair brained scheme they were about to enact. That same man that was, at this point, late to his own party. That same man that had barely had the strength to hobble in front of the council to request support for going after Saren. That same man that had been denied, and very nearly threw his crutches at the council. He'd spouted a string of obscenities, most of which didn't translate and would have likely made a Geth blush, for nearly three minutes before being escorted out. That same man who was still at least a month away from full recovery, but who was yet again ready to throw himself into harm's way.

"Remind me again how this is supposed to go down?" Garrus asked knowing full well what was supposed to happen, but too nervous to think about anything else.

"Baha. Don't tell me you've never been in a bar fight before Garrus." Wrex guffawed downing a shot of Varren flavored Ryncol.

Garrus snorted and swirled the greenish liquid around in his own glass. "Definitely not the first time cleaning up the aftermath, but I've never actually been in the thick of one. Much less started it."

"Likewise. If you'd told me a week ago the Council was going to impound the Normandy and this is how we decided to get it back, I would've laughed in your face." Kaidan chimed in taking a large swig of his amber ale.

Wrex laughed again. "As if our Shepard would come up with anything better in the state he's in. I've seen Thresher Maws that weren't as angry as him. I swear he's gotta be part Krogan."

"Give him skull plates, and he would be." Garrus chuckled allowing some of Wrex's devil may care attitude to calm his own nerves. "I thought he was going to rip off Udina's head, and spit down his neck when they said they were taking the Normandy and his Prothean artifact."

"I was pretty pissed myself. After everything we'd gone through tracking down their rogue Spectre it was a pretty big slap in the face to be sidelined. Especially with Udina shoving his nose so deep in their collective asses he can smell what they had for breakfast." Kaidan grumbled. Both the Krogan, and Turian turned a quizzical eye on their brooding Human counterpart for his uncharacteristically graphic idiom reference. It took him several seconds to notice their pointed stares. "What?"

"You've been hanging out with Shepard too much." Wrex rumbled before raising his hand to order another shot. This one Earth cow flavored.

Kaidan sat thoughtfully gazing into the frothy depths of his nearly empty glass for almost a minute before shrugging his shoulders and downing it to the dregs. He too raised his hand for another. "What can I say? His brand of 'zero fucks to give' is infectious."

"Hear hear." Garrus agreed holding his glass aloft for the others to clink before polishing it off. He shook his head in a vain attempt to mitigate the burning in his throat. "Still it's a bit on the crazy side to start a bar fight to get our ship back isn't it?"

Wrex nodded depositing his empty shot glass on the bar upside down. "Of course it is, but Anderson won't get very far with a station full of C-Sec. Aside from shooting someone on the Presidium I can't think of a better way to get their attention."

"But why not some place that's not as… nice? We've already wrecked Chora's Den once, why not do it there?" Kaidan wondered.

"One, because Shepard's not allowed within a hundred yards of the place for killing it's owner. Two is because Flux is fancier so more likely a bigger response from the fuzz." Wrex explained.

Kaidan shrugged. "Guess I can't argue with that. When was he supposed to…" He trailed off as he saw the seething form of his friend, and boss, round the corner to clumsily stalk into the nightclub. It would have almost looked comical if not for how egregious he knew the Commander's wounds were, and how unabashedly furious the man looked.

"So how's this supposed to go down?" Garrus asked as all of his calm feelings instantly evaporated.

With zero preamble, or even a glance toward his team to confirm their readiness, Kraven limped up to the first man sitting at the bar, grabbed him by scruff and decked him square in the face. The entire room sucked in a shocked gasp as the innocent bystander fell unconscious to the floor. Within a few heartbeats what had just transpired finally dawned on the involuntarily snoozing man's friends as they angrily jumped up from their seats or reached over the bar to grab glass bottles.

"Looks like that was the signal." Wrex chuckled to himself before throwing back one last shot, letting loose with an ear shattering roar, and stampeding off toward the mob forming around the Commander.

Bedlam erupted across the entire club in the same instant as belligerent bar flies suddenly turned on one another if no other reason than they could. Chaos reigned as glasses, bottles, and people flew in every direction spurred on by the effort's of the Normandy's crew to cause as much mayhem as they possibly could. The club's portly Volus owner attempted to make a grab for the shotgun he kept behind the counter to restore order, but was snatched by the wrist and sent sliding across the length of his own bar for his effort.

With nothing left to do but join in, the Normandy's crew waded in to do their part. Ashley threw practiced, bare knuckle jabs with somewhat unnerving precision. Kaidan utilized every available striking surface his body possessed in what looked familiar to an old Terran martial art called Krav Maga. Wrex simply lowered his skull plates and bulled through anyone crazy enough to try to get in his way. Liara, who was altogether out of place in such an altercation, was surprisingly effective in her use of open palm strikes. Deftly delivering crippling blows to faces, throats, sternums, and in one case the back of a Salarian's head. Tali wisely kept to the sidelines per the Commander's instructions to act as a look out should C-Sec show up too soon. Plus a bar fight with broken glass, and more than a few concealed shivs, was a Quarian's suit rupture minefield.

After observing his cohorts and holding himself back for as long as he could a bottle came crashing down onto Garrus' brow crest. His vision exploded with black stars for a few moments before overwhelming rage boiled up through his chest to chase the phantom spots away. He snarled as his clawed hand reached out to roughly snag the Human's collar that had dared assault a former C-Sec detective. Without thinking he yanked the helpless drunk toward himself, and reared back to slam his already abused forehead in the man's nose. Once again fluttering darkness flitted about his vision as he groggily stumbled backward. His assailant ended up in a heap on the floor.

'How in Spirit's name does Shepard do that?' Garrus wondered to himself as he leaned against the bar. 'No wonder he's so crazy. With how much he does that there's got to be more than a few screws loose in there.'

Even with his natural armor the force of impact was devastating. Especially when compounded by getting hit with a nearly full liquor bottle. For almost a minute he braced himself against the counter just trying to stay conscious as the man made hurricane swirled around him. At last, to his great relief, the call to depart came through their private channel.

"We've got the green light people. Time to get your asses, and alien equivalents, back to the ship or I go save the day without you." Garrus never dreamed he would ever be happy to hear Joker's voice.

At once every member of the Normandy's ground team moved to disentangle themselves from the brawl, and make for the exit. Garrus was dimly aware of someone seizing him by the shoulder to pull him along. He made a point of digging his booted toe into his snoozing aggressor's ribcage before letting himself be escorted out. As they hastily made their way to the waiting taxi's, which were to act as get away vehicles, he found himself looking between his squad mates.

To his dismay everyone seemed relatively intact save for a few visible bumps and scratches. He seemed to be the only one being helped along, by who he now saw was Kaidan. His stomach dropped as the thought that he was never going to live this down needled his ego. Especially after he'd made a point of talking up his prowess as his last unit's best hand to hand specialist. To think after all that bluster he'd be nearly KO'd by a drunk with a bottle. Just as he started blowing up balloons for his own pity party he caught sight of Shepard.

The man was in so much pain he could barely even walk, and so was being helped along by Tali. His right leg looked sluggish and blood was weeping from a split lip, but he maintained the gritted teeth snarl of determination mixed with blinding anger. He was being held together by little more than spit and a prayer yet somehow held onto the fire that perpetually drove him onward. As he was helped into the Taxi behind the one Garrus, Kaidan, Liara, and Ashley piled into a resolution solidified in the Turian's head. He would endeavor to be just as good a leader as Shepard was. If no other reason than if the Commander died, which seemed to be a very real possibility, there would need to be someone like him to take his place in the galaxy.

*SSV NORMANDY, EN-ROUTE TO ILOS*

It had been nearly three weeks since the Normandy crew's whirlwind escape from the Citadel. Three weeks to prepare, and rest before the final push to confront Saren at Ilos. Kraven Shepard had been in a medically induced coma for almost two thirds of that time. He'd never imagined the Dr. could be so devious as to knock him out under the guise of a routine pain killer injection. Still he had to grudgingly respect her tenacity for following through on such a thing. Even when he'd questioned her after waking up she stubbornly insisted that her actions were warranted given his careless disregard for sound medical advice.

His anger was still fresh at being stonewalled by the Council, but he couldn't argue with her reasoning. Had he been awake he would have ordered the ship immediately to Ilos to wait for Saren's arrival. He'd have led the charge to bring the rogue Spectre down despite his injuries, and most likely would have died in a blaze of glory. The prospect almost sounded poetic, but given the fact that he was now a rogue Spectre himself it simply wouldn't do to let that black mark stay on Humanity. He had plenty of living left to do and bridges to reconstruct.

In the time he'd been asleep he'd been pleasantly surprised to learn his team hadn't been idle. Dozens of small requests for aid from the Alliance that had been piling up in his inbox had been systematically addressed. He was especially glad his squad had seen fit to visit a bogus distress beacon without him since it turned out to be smack in the middle of a Thresher Maw nest. If he never saw one of those giant dick shaped nightmares again it would be too soon. Plus they'd uncovered some of a shadow organization's inner workings in the process. They'd told him the organization's name, but for the life of him he couldn't retain what it was. Something about a dog.

He'd also relished the chance to get to speak to his team on much more personal terms upon waking as each one of them had come in their turn to check on him. He'd had a particularly intense yet not unwelcome chat with Garrus about the young Turian's aspirations of Spectrehood going forward. He'd gladly promised to support Garrus in whatever path he chose to take once Saren was dealt with. Plus he'd pointed out that the Turian Hierarchy would undoubtedly appreciate a paragon Spectre overshadowing the shame brought by Saren's deeds. The former C-Sec detective had seemed buoyed by the zero-hesitation show of confidence from his Commander and left visibly excited.

Liara had popped in on occasion from her office behind the med bay, but in one instance she'd seen fit to bring up a couple interesting tidbits to him that she'd uncovered about his sword. First had been the revelation that it was constructed from a material never before encountered in the Milky Way. Second was that she was finally able to vaguely translate what some of the glyphs meant that decorated it's blade. The few words she could parse together were roughly equivalent to "berserker" "defiler" and curiously "revenant". Neither of them even tried to hazard a guess at how those terms would coincide, or what their collective meaning might be. Regardless they both desired to have the artifact back in their possession. Albeit for somewhat different reasons.

Ashley and Kaidan had surprisingly come to see him together. He was about as dumb as a bag of hammers when it came to matters of the heart yet even he could see from their interactions with each other that something was afoot. He was smart enough to know not to pry as most budding romances tended to be fragile in the beginning. Particularly aboard a small vessel like the Normandy. Still he couldn't help but be happy about the potential attraction between the two since it took Ashley's focus off of him without having to verbally address her attention. Their visit was somewhat bitter sweet as he learned that both intended to return to active service in the Alliance once their hunt for Saren was over. However his own blood was Alliance blue as well so he understood their motivations for wishing to return.

Wrex had come to see him some time after that, and did his best to pretend like Kraven's condition was the last thing on his mind. He'd nonchalantly rifled through some of Dr. Chakwas' data pads that were still on her desk, and tried a swig of some antiseptic to see if it had any kick. The sour expression that crossed his grizzled features was enough to make both of them chuckle. After that he'd sat down in a chair that could barely hold his bulk to speak with the Commander in earnest. With very little coaxing he started to lay out a plan for what he hoped to do in regards to his people back home. When asked what prompted his sudden interest he'd shrugged, and mentioned the cloning facility on Virmire. He'd been instilled with an indignant fire at watching his species be used and discarded like expendable pack animals. That day he'd decided that if he survived long enough he would work to bring his people back from the brink to their former glory, and earn the respect their strength was due. Had any other Krogan said as much Kraven would have started looking for his sidearm. With Wrex his reaction was completely the opposite. He knew enough about his Krogan squad mate to understand the type of glory he sought, and agree to help realize that vision.

Almost as soon as the words of support for Wrex's ambitions left his lips the door to the med bay whisked open admitting a painful looking pilot. Wrex had excused himself and despite the temptation noticeably refrained from clapping Joker on the shoulder as he left. With deliberate care the pilot had pulled up the warped chair Wrex had been sitting in, and rested his forearms on the Commander's bedside. Their conversation started off with him making a snarky remark about Kraven's legs being as worthless as his own. It then degenerated into good natured ribbing about the Commander's unfortunate penchant for using his own head as a weapon. To which Shepard joked that the pilot was to soft to understand how a man dealt with his problems. Literally head on. After refusing to bequeath his ship to the pilot should he expire, Shepard asked what he planned to do once Saren was dead. Without so much as a second's hesitation Joker had adamantly stated that he would go wherever the ship went. For a while after they had chatted about the ship, and his love for it before the Commander's eyes started to get heavy. Joker quipped about the Commander needing his Council approved nap time before slowly seeing himself out.

Last had come Kraven's favorite. The timid Quarian Engineer. When she'd first entered he'd been lightly dozing for about an hour after Joker left. As the door slid shut he'd stirred into semi wakefulness but hadn't opened his eyes. He could feel her sit in the chair Joker had left beside his bed, but hadn't woken enough to move. Just as he started the arduous task of lifting his eyelids he felt the velvety touch of her finger tips brush against the exposed skin of his arm. He was shocked by the contact, but tried his best to stay still lest his movement cause it to stop. He mentally fought to keep from shivering as goose bumps prickled over the entirety of his body at the delicate touch softly skimming back and forth. Then to his utter amazement he heard her whispered voice begin to sing. His translator failed miserably to decipher the majority of words she was using yet he was completely captivated nonetheless. With gargantuan effort he worked to keep himself still despite the cascade of pure euphoria washing through his senses. Not only because he didn't want it to stop, but because he knew she would be mortified beyond belief if she found out he was actually awake. To his dismay the unfortunately brief song came to an end, and she quietly left the room.

He allowed himself a tiny grin at the memory he alone would carry and treasure for as long as he lived. Even if that would only be for the couple days they had left before making planet fall on Ilos. He pushed those dark thoughts aside in favor of replaying the Quarian song in his mind as sleep once again claimed his healing body. For the first time in many months his dreams were completely untroubled by Reapers.


	17. Chapter 17

**Aftermath212:** Glad to have you along for the whole thing! He's actually really fun to write, and at least in my head he was a Krogan in a past life lol We're at the end but fear not. I'm posting the first chapter to the next story at the same time I do this one!

 **zealot24:** Glad I could be of help! I personally turn to ASMR videos on youtube when I'm having trouble sleeping ;)

 **Kenneth Carmer:** Thanks very much! One thing that I'm still trying to get a good handle on is timing, and relatability. Shepard is a growing legend, but not a super hero so regular Human rules still apply. Hopefully I'm keeping some decent continuity in that department.

 **ivandundalov7:** You're always welcome and thanks! :D

 **BulgarianBarbarian:** Awesome to hear, and I will definitely keep that in mind!

 **Darkerego:** Thanks and actually just one. Although it's a nice long one so it's basically 2!

 **A/N: Ok everyone after long last I've finally updated, and finished this story. I know it took me forever and a day so I appreciate your patience! I'm uploading the next installment as well so as soon as you're done with this you can move on to the next. It's title is simply going to be Revenants Vol. II (no need to complicate things right?) Enjoy this extra long final chapter, and I'll see you over on the next one!**

*ILOS*

"Liara get the lead out!" Shepard shouted back over his shoulder without recognizing his frivolous use of another Idiom.

The timid Asari's voice reluctantly carried back after a moment's delay. "B-But Shepard, all of this knowledge about the Protheans…"

"I'll get you an OSD at the gift shop now move your ass or we're leaving you here!"

He thought they would have to do just that as he, Tali, and Wrex bounded into the lift leading away from the Prothean VI they had just spoken to. Just as he turned he caught the Asari half heartedly tearing herself away from the flickering display to trudge after them. In any other situation he would have thought of some way to make it up to her, but current circumstances had driven any such thoughts from his mind. His target was almost literally within striking distance, and moreover was poised to unleash the full might of a race of machines called the Reapers on the galaxy.

A good deal of the questions he'd had after speaking to one such machine on Virmire had been answered on Ilos by the Prothean VI, Vigil. The Reaper Sovereign was one of possibly millions that invaded the Milky Way every 50,000 years to cleanse it of all advanced organic life. Their means of returning from deep in dark space was none other than the Mass Relays, and the Citadel which the entire galaxy erroneously believed to be the work of the Protheans. That 50,000 year cycle had gone on for countless millennia, and was now primed to begin again with the help of a delusional Turian megalomaniac.

Kraven resisted the urge to tap his foot impatiently while Liara distractedly trotted into the lift to join them. They'd made excellent time crushing the Geth roadblocks Saren had left behind to impede their progress, but were still at least two steps behind him. Stopping to shoot the breeze with a particularly chatty VI had slowed them down even more than the intelligent gun buckets meaning they were falling even further behind. With all of the urgency of a comatose sloth the lift began to cycle upward on it's way back to where they had left the Mako, and the rest of the team. He would have started to pull his own hair out at their agonizingly slow progress if he didn't intentionally keep it cut extremely short.

"Keelah, can't this thing go any faster?" Tali griped recognizing the Commander's dismay.

"Would it help if I got out and pushed?" Wrex deadpanned.

Shepard gave him an intensely thoughtful stare for a moment. "… It might."

Before he could come up with a plan to add some Krogan muscle to the equation the elevator finally reached it's destination in the gigantic Prothean cryo hall. Without even waiting for the door to cycle open all four squad members piled out, and into the waiting transport.

"We're in, step on it!" The Commander yelled up to the cockpit as the Mako's side hatch swung closed.

"Step on what?" Garrus called back from the pilot's chair although as he did the tank lurched forward.

In response to the Turian's actions and question which seemed to be somewhat at odds with one another Shepard's mouth clamped shut as some revelation suddenly occurred to him. He didn't feel inclined to share what it was. The cabin lapsed into an uneasy silence apart from the droning roar of the Mako's powerful engine, and occasional creak from it's flexing suspension. The usual easy banter that would have pervaded the cramped compartment was conspicuously absent as everyone mentally prepared themselves for what was coming. The final stand they'd been working tirelessly towards since meeting one another on the Citadel many months before.

As Garrus deftly steered their unruly vehicle around branching tree roots, pulverized stone pavers, and smoldering tin men they grew ever closer to the core of the facility. Though no one mentioned it, they were all aware of the throbbing hum that grew ever louder the further they went. With each passing second the booming thunder increased in intensity like the heartbeat of some colossal titan. Then after passing the silent ranks of thousands of empty Prothean sarcophagi they finally crested the precipice of an enormous drainage canal to see the conduit in all it's intimidating glory.

The Turian's foot subconsciously lifted from the pedal before stomping back down with renewed vigor. "Smoke em if you got em." After a short pause. "I say that right Shepard?"

"Spot on Garrus, but there's one thing I need to know before we take this ride to deadsville... Does everyone actually understand my idioms, but just play dumb for grins?"

Plasma artillery from a battery of Geth Colossi exploded all around the speeding vehicle, but no sound reached Kraven's ears except the deafening silence of his crew who were realizing the jig was finally up.

"Way to go Garrus." Wrex grumbled.

"Does this mean I win the pot?" Tali asked glibly.

Shepard turned an incredulous eye toward her. "Et tu bruté?"

"Ok I for real don't get that one." Garrus called from the helm.

"I hate all of you..." The Commander grumbled as their rover rocketed off a berm and into the Conduit's scintillating beam of blinding light.

*CITADEL*

Fires flickered amidst wrecked pathways, and smoldering bulkheads. All of the vibrant greens of the Presidium's plant life was replaced by ashy grey and angry black. Bodies littered the streets in various stages of disassembly scattered amongst a disproportionately small number of Geth parts. Distant cries could still be heard as walking trash cans methodically swept every inch of the station, and mercilessly terminated holdouts. The station's VI Avina was characteristically high spirited in her dismal assessment of the situation. Even sounding chipper when relating how many casualties had been sustained. Her programmed enthusiasm earned her a single shotgun slug to the old holographic projector.

Although pointless the act of vandalism proved to be exceedingly cathartic for all present given the terrifying state of the Citadel. It also helped to refocus the team's hatred of the enemy they were about to face. Saren had a great deal to answer for, and every single crew member of the Normandy were committed to seeing he did just that. The burning fire of retribution was tempered somewhat by the lack of lift access to the Council Tower. None of the ground team had trained extensively in zero G environments so scaling the outside of the tower using mag boots would not have been their first choice. Even without considering the fact that a gargantuan purple squid demon was precariously perched atop their destination.

Still, that coupled with waves of Geth defenders did little to deter the Normandy's lethal ground squad. Even being reinforced by several cloned Krogan battle masters, Saren's forces proved to be little more than fancy speed bumps to the determined squad. Best of all, at least in the Commander's mind, there seemed to be no sign of the Geth's creepy little Leapers. It was a straight up slugfest to the finish which was exactly what he would have wished for. They were in a hurry to stop whatever was happening in the tower from completing so sneaking through cover just wasn't an option anyway. He would have liked to have the security of the Prothean sword as backup, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

Throughout the entire trek up the side of the tower Kraven had kept one eye on the monster waiting above them trying in vain to formulate some kind of strategy for dealing with it. As his team breached an airlock to enter the tower once more he was disappointed to admit that he'd come up with a shit load of bupkus. The damn thing was the size of a skyscraper for pete's sake. As they entered the Council Chamber's atrium his mind continued to race searching for some kind of inspiration. Nothing viable occurred to him apart from maybe shoving high explosive into it's giant robotic equivalent of a corn hole and watching the fireworks display. That line of thought proved to be counterproductive as a comical image of a nuke being shot up the Reaper's "ass" kept replaying through his head, and chasing away any logical thoughts of what to actually do about it.

He couldn't help the unconscious smile curling the corners of his mouth at the mental picture that seemed even funnier every time he thought about it. Without knowing what ran through his head one would have simply assumed that he especially enjoyed turning cyclopian robots into scrap. Which was also somewhat true as he barked a sharp laugh upon shooting off one such robot's flashlight heads, and watching it scramble around blindly for a moment before exploding in a spray of yellowish fluid. Once the last of it's compatriots had hit the deck he signaled his squad to discreetly take up positions around the Councilor's Podium while he boldly walked up the stairs in plain view.

As he cleared the last few steps his Turian Target's back came into view. He chambered a round in his sidearm and raised his arm to point squarely at the compromised Spectre's scaly head. "Knock knock asshole." His finger tightened around the trigger without waiting for a reply.

Unfortunately Saren was aware of the intruder's presence and already started to move with unnatural speed before Shepard's weapon fired. He spun angrily and raised his own weapon to vomit death back in Kraven's direction forcing the Commander to jump to the side, and seek cover behind the staircase's guard rails. "I'm surprised it took you so long to get here?" Saren snarled priming a plasma blast in his left palm.

"Well you know, killing all your guys is slow work." Shepard sneered before stealing a quick glance past his protection. "You're looking particularly awful today. New haircut?"

Saren's baleful eyes flared electric blue. "Sovereign recognized my misgivings about ascension so I was implanted with stronger augmentations to strengthen my resolve. You're seeing the gifts the Reaper's wish to bestow upon our galaxy."

"Gifts huh? Is there even any Turian left in there or is it all just homicidal Reaper puppet?"

Saren snort derisively. "I wouldn't expect someone like you to comprehend. I represent the next stage of intelligent evolution in the galaxy. While your fetid corpse rots in the ground I will be ascending to virtual god hood."

"That what it told you to make you feel better? That you totally weren't some gullible tool that was going to be thrown aside once it's usefulness was expended? Because in the scope of an entire galaxy a single Turian is just SO incredibly valuable." Shepard laughed bitterly.

The cobalt fire in Saren's eyes dimmed ever so slightly. "You're wrong. I've already proven my worth. Sovereign's augmentations only reaffirm that I am an asset to maintain!"

The Commander shook his head in genuine sadness at his adversary's feeble logic. "You're nothing more than a slave, and when you started to question your situation you were brought back under control. You've known from the very beginning that you were being manipulated, but some part of you just didn't want to believe it. Now look at you. You're an abomination, and once the Reapers get here your body is going to be thrown in the same pit with mine whether you beat me or not."

The roiling orb of superheated gas forming in Saren's left palm dissipated as he raised his augmented hands to stare unbelieving at their alien shape. The glow behind his eyes winked out entirely leaving only the hollow shell of his cybernetic visage to twist in disgust and horror. "I… I tried… To break free… He was… Is… Too strong…"

Kraven stared directly into the former Spectre's lifeless eyes to seize the opportunity he believed he saw. "There's only one way to escape Saren… If you don't do it I'll do it for you."

The malformed Turian eyed the pistol in his monstrous right hand for several moments as sparking lights flickered across the cybernetics imbedded in his flesh like some unseen war raged within. At long last his now blazing eyes returned to the Commander's. "Thank you Shepard." With visible effort he raised the muzzle of his weapon to his right temple, and pulled the trigger.

Bits of metal and half liquified grey matter exploded out the other side of his head as every light scattered across his body winked out. His limp form slowly toppled from the Councilor's podium before crashing through the glass floor below and into the arboretum beneath the Council Chamber. Every member of the Normady's ground team breathed a heavy sigh of relief as they vacated their hiding places to walk up to their Commander.

"Woulda been faster to just kill him." Wrex observed.

"You didn't fight him on Virmire. Guy was a freak of nature even before getting more Reaper upgrades." Shepard answered truthfully with a shrug. "You probably would have been scooping what was left of me into a plastic bag if it had come to blows."

"Woulda been a pretty good fight up until that point though…" The Krogan trailed off.

"Anyway." Ashley interjected bringing focus back to their current situation. "What are we going to do about that monster outside?"

"First things first we'd better shut down the conduit." Garrus advised.

Shepard nodded agreement and headed for the console where Saren had been standing being careful not to fall through the hole in the glass floor. "Good idea. Then maybe we can work on getting the station's arms open. See if anyone outside has a gun big enough to deal with our unwelcome guest. Wrex, you Kaidan, and Liara head down and make sure Saren isn't going to get back up."

As the assigned trio gingerly made their way down to the Spectre's corpse the rest of the team gathered around Shepard, and the console in front of him. For a few heartbeats he stood with his hand hovering over the interface before turning to Tali. "Um… Maybe you'd better do it. I'll probably start a self destruct sequence or something." He was only half kidding as visions of a rampaging Rachni Queen skittering across Noveria floated through his head.

Tali nodded and obliged as Garrus chuckled to himself. "Might still have killed Sovereign."

Ashley speared him with a venomous look. "No one said anything about this being a suicide mission."

"Well since our Quarian prodigy is here now it won't be." Kraven chuckled with Garrus.

"Got it." Tali practically sang as her fingers danced over the keyboard. The Commander's embellishment of her capabilities was enough to make her blush. "I've severed the connection with Sovereign, cut power to the conduit, reengaged the mass relays, and started the ward opening cycle."

They all jumped as a single shot rang out below and behind them. "Yup. He's dead." Wrex pronounced before a flurry of signals flooded through the growing gap in the Citadel's arms.

Most were general distress calls from damage sustained battling the Geth fleet outside, but one stood out above the rest. "This is the Asari Dreadnaught Destiny Ascension. We have sustained heavy damage, and are incapable of FTL. Requesting immediate assistance from any functional ships in the area. The Council is on board. Repeat the Council on board!"

As the distress call looped back Joker's voice broke in over the com. "Commander? That you?"

"We read you Joker what's going on out there?"

"Pretty much a big shit show Commander. The Citadel Defense Fleet is getting their asses handed to them. How's it going down there?"

Shepard gritted his teeth. "Aced the puppet but still got an angry squid beast having it's way with our tower."

"Phrasing." Joker quipped through a stifled laugh.

"Oh for crying out loud grow up. We need some way to kill this thing before it goes bananas and rips apart the station."

The line was quiet for a few moments. "… Well I've got Admiral Hackett on the line. Since the relays are back up he can jump in with the fifth fleet when you say the word. Except if we go straight for Sovereign the Destiny Ascension is probably going down."

Shepard contemplated for a second. "Can't I have my cake and eat it too?"

"No dice Shepard. The Destiny is already listing pretty badly."

The Commander looked for input from his companions as he imagined the Council vaporizing in a titanic explosion. Despite the almost giddy feeling that picture inspired in his guts he knew he should seek additional, less biased, perspective.

Garrus defiantly folded his arms. "Doesn't seem like a problem to me."

That was 1 for letting the bastards fry.

"Me either." Ashley added.

That was 2.

"Is that… Legal? To just let them die?" Tali asked tentatively.

2 for fireworks. 1 undecided.

"Shepard you could not possibly!" Liara shouted from below.

1 killjoy.

"I agree. We can't just leave them high and dry." Kaidan concurred.

2 enemies of fun.

Wrex was the last to weigh in. Kraven's heart started to beat faster as he assumed what the Krogan's position would be. The words ordering Joker to contact the Admiral and tell him to send Sovereign straight to hell were already starting to form on his lips when Wrex finally spoke.

"Humans don't have the best rep here as it is. Letting the Ascension go down seems like a bad idea, but it's your call Shepard."

Kraven could have kicked the Krogan square in the quad as all of the pressure he had thought to avoid came crashing down on his shoulders. "What's it going to be Commander? We don't have a lot of time here." Joker asked quickly.

Kraven desperately tried to validate his desire to see the Council blasted into vaporized blood mist out in space, but couldn't escape the fact that thousands of innocent Asari would have to go down with them. In the end he knew the right choice to make even though the rest of his psyche was going berserk that his conscience had won. "Tell Hackett to help the Ascension, and then deal with Sovereign."

"Aye aye." It was impossible to discern any indication from the pilot's acknowledgment whether he approved or not.

Shepard never imagined that making the choice that would save the most lives would also feel the worst to make. Had Udina been aboard he might have decided differently. Still the relieved Asari Captain's voice responding to Joker's felt pretty good all things considered. Sovereign still awaited it's impending demise like some warped spider on it's web, but all in all Shepard was confident in calling the mission a success. Until he heard the shouts, and tortured scream from below.

"Shit he's moving!" Kaidan hollered backing away from the writhing Turian corpse.

Wrex's shotgun boomed an echoing report, but the undead Spectre continued to scream and convulse as wicked looking mechanisms contorted his body. The team above the arboretum jumped through the hole in the glass ceiling just in time to see a now angrily glowing Saren Husk uncoil himself like a diabolical snake. Nearly all semblance of the organic he had once been was utterly swept away leaving a biomechanical horror behind.

His blazing sanguine eyes, the same bloody color as the deadly energy emitted by Sovereign, locked onto Shepard's as inarticulate noises escaped from the void where his lower jaw used to be. With blinding speed he fell to his hands in preparation to spring. Garrus was the first to react.

"Move!" He shouted barreling into the Commander from the side to push him out of the way.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Sovereign's Avatar leapt forward toward Shepard. At the same instant Garrus impacted his shoulder sending him sprawling out of harm's way. There was a sickening crack, and a pulpy cough as the abomination solidly connected with the former C-Sec agent's chestplate. Armor pulverized into flaking dust from the force of the blow as Garrus was hurtled backward. With a second agonizing crunch he hit the wall a dozen yards away, and crumpled to the ground.

The creature didn't stop to gloat over it's handiwork as it was already whirling to reacquire it's original target. Hundreds of rounds rained down upon it from every direction although it appeared not to care as it's Reaper fueled shields shrugged off the damage. In an instant it locked onto Shepard again who was only just scrambling back to his feet.

"Look out!" Liara called as the beast raised it's open palm to loose a burning ball of plasma.

This time the Commander was more prepared. Although he deftly juked to the side the proximity of the blast racing past him was enough to make his skin feel like millions of ants had gotten into his suit. Unfriendly, nasty, stinging ants. He clenched his teeth and steadied his aim sending a stream of rifle bullets at his nemesis' face. He might as well have thrown marbles for all the good it did. The monster didn't so much as flinch as it bounded forward on artificially elongated legs to seize his weapon by the barrel. In the blink of an eye it had wrenched the gun from his hands and crushed it in an iron grip before clamping it's other hand around his windpipe and lifting him off the ground.

His vision began to narrow as the flow of blood to his brain started to constrict, but could plainly hear Wrex's bellowing roar to his left. Just as the last vestiges of his sight darkened he felt a jarring impact, and was thrown clear. His stomach lurched, and his head spun as he fought to stay conscious while tumbling to the ground. He tried to regain his bearings but could barely hear what was going on around him. Everything sounded like he was listening to a half whispered conversation through a door and pillow. Painfully gradually his world started to swim back into focus.

Garrus was either knocked out or dead slumped against the wall. Wrex, who had apparently tackled the supercharged Husk, was some distance away trying to regain his feet after being tossed aside like a bean bag. Liara, Ashley, and Kaidan were all trying to weave around trees and boulders to keep distance between them, and the creature who had shifted focus solely from Shepard to his compatriots. Tali was nowhere to be seen.

With great effort Shepard shook his head to clear it, although this only served to start a steady throbbing pain behind his eyes, and got to his feet. He reached back for another firearm, but his hand came away empty. He frantically looked about trying to find where his weapons might have ended up, but failed to see them through the dense carpet of foliage at his feet. Desperate shouts from his team mates signaled that his time to search had already run out.

"Guess we do this the hard way." He growled to himself a little less enthusiastically than usual. Partly because his throat felt like an elephant had stepped on it, but mostly because he'd been on the receiving end of Saren's hand to hand capabilities when he was still mostly Turian. Now that he was Sovereign incarnate Shepard was not relishing the idea of getting beaten to a pulp in close combat.

Just as he fired up his newly installed biotic amps for a glorious one way ticket to pain town, he heard Tali hollering above him. "Commander! Here!" With great effort she struggled to heave something up and then drop it down through the glass ceiling she was standing on.

This proved to be somewhat of a mistake as the panel she was standing on shattered along with the one she'd dropped the object through leaving her to awkwardly tumble to the lush, viridian covered ground. The Saren puppet glanced back at what had caused the commotion, but it's attention was brought back around by a powerful combination warp field splashing across it's diminishing shields. Both Liara, and Kaidan ducked behind cover to give their amps time to cool before unleashing another joint biotic storm.

As the Husk leapt to the side to get a better vantage against it's aggressors Shepard capitalized on it's distraction. He full on sprinted to where Tali scrambled upright to see what she had thought so important to leave the battle to get. His eyes lit up with giddy fire as he recognized the sleek contours of his favorite weapon. He reached out a hand to help his friend up before pouncing on his prize and hefting it aloft like a kid with a giant lollipop.

"Tali, I could kiss you." He croaked through a partially crushed larynx without thinking.

"Promise?" She half whispered.

"Huh?" He asked distractedly.

"Nothing. Go do what you do best." She responded somewhat sheepishly.

"Yes ma'am." Biotic fire lit around his body before seeming to be drawn into the heavy blade.

With both him, and his sword bathed in a brilliant azure glow he channeled his inner rage into a titanic biotic charge. In milliseconds the combined mass of his body, and weapon were catapulted forward with terrifying speed straight at the back of his unsuspecting foe. Just as he impacted his target he swung the sword upward in a diagonal cut meant to cleave the monster vertically in half. Except somehow it had sensed him coming, and had started to dodge out of the way. Fortunately his strike still connected. Unfortunately it only managed to separate the puppet's arm from it's body. Even the collateral from the blade's explosive properties was limited to impotently battering against the thing's prodigious shields.

Shepard wasn't used to having to swing his sword twice at the same target. That made him angry. With zero hesitation he bounded forward again intent on smashing the Saren Husk's head in. With lighting reflexes the beast twisted aside before leaping up out of his reach to stick to the wall a few yards away. Just like how the Geth Leapers that he'd witnessed countless times did. His hatred of the creepy little bastards, and the uncanny similarity in robot Saren's movements made him even more pissed off. In order to keep Saren in striking distance he surged forward to slam his shoulder into the wall beneath his prey in an attempt to dislodge it.

Just as he hit the wall plates the monster dropped from it's perch, twisted in the air, and brought it's dagger-like claws down to rake across Shepard's back. His armor might as well have been tissue paper as it did next to nothing to keep the bladed digits from reaching his flesh. He roared in outrage and whipped his sword around in a lateral strike, but missed again. The unlucky Chollu tree his blade hit instead exploded into a shower of fragrant smelling splinters as the cobalt fire around the Commander started to shift from an icy blue to gory red.

His vision started to tunnel until Saren was the only thing he could see or hear. Blood pounded in his ears like infuriating drums as the limiters placed on his amps overloaded. Unfettered biotic energy fountained from his body into his weapon as he lost himself in his rage. His subconscious was aware that he had started moving again, but his waking mind was utterly smothered in a sea of red.

To those watching the Commander had suddenly become a terrifying engine of complete destruction. Up until that point the Reaper's marionette had been capable of literally running circles around the lot of them, almost moving faster than the eye could follow. However in that instant the tables were dramatically turned as scarlet wreathed Shepard matched and then surpassed Saren's physics defying speed. It was nearly impossible to discern what was actually happening as the Sovereign Avatar desperately tried to maintain distance from the berserk Human with a giant cleaver. It was a losing battle as each time it came within reach Shepard managed to land a glancing blow.

At last it's shields were completely depleted and most of it's inner structure was badly damaged. In a last ditch effort to neutralize the maniacal organic it leapt from the ceiling to the ground before scrabbling forward on all fours, or in this case threes, like a disgusting insect. In the last dozen feet it sprang with remaining claw outstretched to skewer the Human through the heart. It was a final desperate act to end a losing battle, but failed to pay off as Shepard easily ducked underneath before bringing his blade up with all his might. The cutting edge met brief resistance as it bit into the mechanical skeleton's mid section before busting free in a brilliant explosion.

As both halves of the creature messily tumbled into the war torn garden the energy animating them dissipated. Both pieces vaporized like acrid smoke leaving nothing but a cloud of fluttering ashes to mark their passing. The tower shook as a gargantuan robotic groan reverberated down through the structure in sympathy with the Avatar's demise. The crew of the Normandy would have breathed a collective sigh of relief knowing their part in the fight was over if not for the fact that the Commander was still very much on the warpath.

In the past once the immediate threat was gone he would either gradually come down, or in extreme cases go completely comatose. Whether due to the fact that he'd sustained more time under the sword's berserker effects, or the fact that an immense target was right outside was anyone's guess. Regardless he was in the process of locating a means to ascend to meet the adversary outside. It would have been almost comical to watch as he mindlessly cast about looking for a way to escape except that he was still burning an angry red which was taxing his still healing body to it's limits.

Tali, Ashley, and Kaidan all attempted to talk him down. "It's ok Shepard. Saren's dead, and the fleets will deal with Sovereign. It's over." Kaidan tried to calmly explain as he walked toward his Commander.

"You did good Skipper. Just put that thing down, and chill out for a minute." Ashley added.

He didn't even appear to have heard them, or if he did he was doing a good job ignoring them. Tali crept closer as he stood angrily staring at the shattered ceiling above. She reached out a shaking hand to grasp his wrist but jumped back with an unintentional squeak as he crouched down before rocketing himself out the ragged hole.

"Shit! We need to get up there before he hurts himself." Kaidan growled looking for the door that would lead them out of the arboretum.

"Or makes it outside!" Wrex concurred wiping a stream of blood from his snout.

Once they'd located the exit Wrex and Liara hurried to help a battered, but barely conscious Garrus back to his feet. The Krogan practically dragged the punch drunk Turian toward the door just as a massive crash rocked the tower. Everyone was knocked to the deck by the earthquake impact as enormous pieces of what had once been the Reaper Sovereign cartwheeled into the Council Chamber above.

"SHEPARD!" Tali screamed past the deafening roar of metal pulverizing metal and glass.

Rubble and debris rained down upon them from the tortured structure as it began to buckle under the tremendous forces from the collision. Though it seemed to go on forever the catastrophic crash was over in a handful of heartbeats before everything became deathly quiet. Energy based atmospheric barriers winked into place around the gaping rents in the Tower's structure to keep the the air contained within from decompressing out into space. For minutes the only signs of life were small fires flickering in the smoke filled chamber, and chunks of metal and masonry settling.

Eventually the surreal peacefulness was broken by the frantic calls of rescuers outside the chamber. Floodlights started to shine through gaps in the wreckage as C-Sec officers accompanied by none other than Captain Anderson worked to clear away obstructions in search of survivors. For nearly thirty minutes they meticulously pulled away the rubble before finally being rewarded with a glimpse of movement.

Anderson strained to yank aside a warped steel girder to allow himself access to the pocket inside. He let out an unconscious sigh as his light played across the dust, and soot covered denizens within. They were all alive, and except for the Turian seemed none too worse for wear.

He crouched down next to the huddled Quarian girl. "Rest easy. You've all had a busy day." He looked about at the haunted looks her companions gave him before a cold pit formed in his stomach. "Where's the Commander?"

The Quarian clutched her knees tighter to her chest and morosely shook her head refusing to voice what they all knew. Anderson stared blankly off into the twisted mass of destruction as a pang of grief squeezed his heart. He waved his C-Sec escort forward to help the Normandy's crew while he coaxed Tali to her feet. With one last forlorn look back at where the hero of the Citadel met his end the Quarian reluctantly allowed herself to be led away.

Despite everything Anderson cast one last glance backwards as if to assure himself that no living person could have survived the devastation, but as he did he noticed a small slab of concrete shift. He halted to get a better look as he could have sworn he saw something moving through a gap in the rubble. His mouth reflexively twisted up into a heartfelt grin as he caught a flash of N7 stripes on a piece of battered armor.

"Sh… Shepard?" Tali whispered hesitantly not allowing herself to believe what she was seeing.

Wrex let out a hearty belly laugh as Garrus slowly shook his head in disbelief.

"Skipper!" Ashley hollered jubilantly as the man himself looking like hammered shit struggled over a mound of wreckage with one arm held awkwardly against his side, and the other dragging his favorite toy.

Commander Kraven Matthew Shepard beamed proudly as he rejoined his friends. "The one and only."

 **A/N: And that brings us to the end of Revenants. Revenants Vol. II is up so come on over and we'll keep this gravy train running!**


End file.
